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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. The King held a masked ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. present — a gift
  4. chip — to eat
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chest — of your body
  8. object — an aim
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. chip — for betting
  11. present — the time now
  12. hand — in cards
  13. ball — a dance
  14. cold — an illness
  15. object — to protest
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. object — a thing
  19. ball — a great time
  20. hand — help
  21. branch — a division
  22. present — there
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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