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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. chip — to eat
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. season — in sport
  6. cold — not warm
  7. tear — from crying
  8. wax — in the ear
  9. spell — magic
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bass — the fish
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cold — an illness
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. bass — low music
  19. spell — a short time
  20. wax — to grow
  21. season — of the year
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chip — for betting
  24. spell — letters

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