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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. chip — to eat
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. bear — the animal
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — a coil
  8. track — a song
  9. spring — the season
  10. bear — the animal
  11. cold — not warm
  12. content — happy
  13. band — a ring
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. spring — of water
  18. track — to keep track
  19. date — the fruit
  20. track — a path
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. band — a music group
  24. content — the amount

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