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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 116 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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. can — a tin
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. can — to be able to
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. can — a tin
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. staff — employees
  17. staff — a stick
  18. cold — an illness
  19. chip — for betting
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. staff — employees
  23. mine — for digging
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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