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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cold — an illness
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stem — a stem cell
  6. drill — a practice
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — for betting
  10. squash — the sport
  11. stem — to come from
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. drill — the tool
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. squash — to crush
  22. capital — a city
  23. drill — army training
  24. capital — money

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