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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 water is too ________________.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  14. It's one o'clock ________________.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. sharp — clever
  3. trunk — of a tree
  4. march — music
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. march — the month
  8. march — the month
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. band — a music group
  12. cold — an illness
  13. band — a rubber band
  14. sharp — exactly
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. chest — of your body
  17. toast — bread
  18. chip — for betting
  19. chest — of your body
  20. toast — the most admired
  21. chest — a box
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. trunk — of an elephant

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