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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. spell — letters
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chip — for betting
  5. chip — to eat
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. cold — an illness
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. chest — a box
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. tube — the underground
  18. tube — a container
  19. firm — decided
  20. bark — to shout
  21. firm — a company
  22. spell — magic
  23. cold — not warm
  24. spell — a short time

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