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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 116 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. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. It's one o'clock ________________.
  4. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. sharp — exactly
  4. object — an aim
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. object — to protest
  8. sharp — clever
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. wound — an injury
  11. object — a thing
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. wound — an injury
  15. bass — low music
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chip — for betting
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. pound — a weight
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. cold — not warm
  22. bass — the fish
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pound — for dogs

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