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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. current — of water
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. cold — not warm
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. row — a line
  8. current — happening now
  9. cold — an illness
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. current — electric
  14. chip — to eat
  15. march — the month
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. hand — help
  19. chip — for betting
  20. hand — in cards
  21. snap — to click
  22. row — to paddle
  23. march — the month
  24. march — music

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