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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  14. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — tied together
  8. face — part of the head
  9. board — a committee
  10. cold — an illness
  11. lean — to bend
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. wax — to grow
  14. board — a flat piece
  15. chip — for betting
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. board — to get on
  18. mine — for digging
  19. face — to confront
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. face — to point toward
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. lean — thin
  24. cold — not warm

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