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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 116 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. The water is too ________________.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. cold — not warm
  3. mark — a grade
  4. chip — for betting
  5. race — the arms race
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. race — humankind
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. cold — an illness
  11. race — a contest
  12. mark — a trace
  13. degree — from a university
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. pitch — completely
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. snap — to click
  18. degree — temperature
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. wax — to grow
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. degree — an amount
  23. pitch — a sales talk
  24. cold — the Cold War

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