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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  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. season — to add flavour
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. current — of water
  4. swing — in golf
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. hand — help
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. current — happening now
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. season — in sport
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. swing — music
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. current — electric
  17. chair — a leader
  18. swing — to play on
  19. chip — to eat
  20. cold — an illness
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. season — of the year
  23. chip — for betting
  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