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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  10. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The polar ice ________________ is melting.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. ground — a position
  4. chip — for betting
  5. ground — crushed
  6. cell — a phone
  7. scale — in music
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. perch — the fish
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. cap — a hat
  13. cold — an illness
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. cap — a lid
  16. pass — a permit
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. scale — for weighing
  19. chip — to eat
  20. ground — the earth
  21. scale — size or range
  22. cold — not warm
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. cap — of ice

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