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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. rule — a law
  3. mug — a cup
  4. chest — of your body
  5. spell — letters
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. mug — to rob
  8. spell — a short time
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — low music
  11. rule — government
  12. mug — a face
  13. bass — the fish
  14. chip — for betting
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. spell — magic
  17. branch — a division
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. cold — an illness
  20. cold — not warm
  21. branch — of a tree
  22. chest — a box
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. chip — to eat

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