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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — for betting
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. ground — the earth
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. band — a ring
  9. cold — not warm
  10. arm — a part of something
  11. band — a music group
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. wind — moving air
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. cold — an illness
  16. ground — a position
  17. row — to paddle
  18. mine — for digging
  19. ground — crushed
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. row — a line
  22. chip — to eat
  23. wind — moving air
  24. row — a quarrel

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