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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. cold — an illness
  4. charge — a price
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. kid — to tease
  13. charge — electricity
  14. charge — in control
  15. kid — child
  16. wind — moving air
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. wind — moving air
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. chip — for betting
  21. kick — in football
  22. cold — not warm
  23. snap — to click
  24. wind — to turn a key

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