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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 120 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 put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Have you found your soul ________________?
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. pass — to spend time
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chair — a leader
  6. race — the arms race
  7. wind — moving air
  8. cold — not warm
  9. race — a contest
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. wound — an injury
  12. mate — a partner
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. mate — to breed
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. chip — for betting
  21. race — humankind
  22. pass — a permit
  23. wind — moving air
  24. mate — a friend

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