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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. I can't ________________ this cold.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. present — the time now
  3. band — a music group
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cold — not warm
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. chip — to eat
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. present — a gift
  18. band — a ring
  19. chip — for betting
  20. stand — to bear
  21. bat — the animal
  22. present — there
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. nail — on a finger

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