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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — music
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. chip — for betting
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. scale — in music
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. cold — not warm
  9. swing — in golf
  10. branch — a division
  11. chair — a leader
  12. hand — help
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chip — to eat
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. pound — for dogs
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. scale — size or range
  21. pound — a weight
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. swing — to play on
  24. cold — the Cold War

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