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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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Word bank
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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. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chip — to eat
  5. mark — a grade
  6. cold — not warm
  7. swing — to play on
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. degree — temperature
  13. chip — for betting
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. mark — a trace
  16. wound — an injury
  17. swing — music
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. degree — an amount
  20. swing — in golf
  21. degree — from a university
  22. wound — an injury
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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