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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. spring — of water
  5. wind — moving air
  6. file — a document
  7. file — a line of people
  8. vault — a safe
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. cold — not warm
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. saw — the tool
  13. rest — a break
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wind — moving air
  16. spring — the season
  17. chip — to eat
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. file — a tool
  20. rest — what's left
  21. saw — the tool
  22. cold — an illness
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. wind — to turn a key

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