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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. snap — to click
  4. capital — money
  5. squash — the sport
  6. hand — help
  7. track — a song
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cold — an illness
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chip — to eat
  12. pass — a permit
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. squash — to crush
  15. cold — not warm
  16. track — to keep track
  17. capital — a city
  18. pass — to succeed
  19. track — a path
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. chip — for betting
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. hand — in cards
  24. chip — in a computer

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