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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. cue — a hint
  3. wind — moving air
  4. field — farmland
  5. cue — for pool
  6. swing — to play on
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. mate — a partner
  9. swing — in golf
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. field — a subject
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chip — for betting
  16. mate — a friend
  17. swing — music
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cue — a signal
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. field — for sport
  23. mate — to breed
  24. wind — moving air

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com