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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. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. mug — a cup
  3. chip — for betting
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. plane — in geometry
  6. spring — of water
  7. cold — not warm
  8. plane — a tool
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. chip — to eat
  11. mug — a face
  12. spring — a coil
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. spring — the season
  15. row — a line
  16. row — to paddle
  17. mug — to rob
  18. swing — in golf
  19. swing — music
  20. cold — an illness
  21. swing — to play on
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. pitcher — a jug

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