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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. lean — thin
  3. band — a ring
  4. wind — moving air
  5. race — humankind
  6. chip — to eat
  7. lean — to bend
  8. chest — of your body
  9. chest — of your body
  10. chest — a box
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. mine — for digging
  14. wind — moving air
  15. kid — to tease
  16. race — the arms race
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. kid — child
  19. band — a music group
  20. race — a contest
  21. chip — for betting
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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