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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  19. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The ________________ took off on time.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  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. chest — of your body
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — a box
  9. cold — an illness
  10. chip — for betting
  11. saw — the tool
  12. cold — not warm
  13. perch — the fish
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. saw — the tool
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. plane — a tool
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. rash — hasty
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. plane — an aircraft
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  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