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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. When was this ________________ built?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  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. dip — a sauce
  2. temple — side of the head
  3. land — a country
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. march — the month
  7. march — the month
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — not warm
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. land — ground
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chip — for betting
  17. dip — to sink
  18. file — a tool
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. land — to come down
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. chip — to eat
  23. file — a document
  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