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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. degree — temperature
  3. cold — an illness
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. cap — a lid
  7. cold — not warm
  8. file — a tool
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. degree — from a university
  11. file — a line of people
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chip — for betting
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. degree — an amount
  19. cap — of ice
  20. vault — a safe
  21. cap — a hat
  22. file — a document
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. wind — moving air

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