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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. wound — an injury
  3. chip — to eat
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — an illness
  6. net — after costs
  7. stand — for spectators
  8. tube — a container
  9. chip — for betting
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. wound — an injury
  13. tear — to rip
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. pitch — a sales talk
  16. net — in sport
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. stand — to bear
  21. pitch — completely
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. tube — the underground
  24. tear — from crying

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