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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. face — to point toward
  4. cue — a signal
  5. swing — in golf
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. swing — to play on
  9. cold — not warm
  10. cue — a hint
  11. swing — music
  12. land — ground
  13. land — a country
  14. face — to confront
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. face — part of the head
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. stand — to bear
  19. chip — to eat
  20. land — to come down
  21. kid — child
  22. chip — for betting
  23. cue — for pool
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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