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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. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. cue — for pool
  3. kid — to tease
  4. shower — to wash
  5. cold — an illness
  6. game — a match
  7. cue — a signal
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rock — music
  10. chip — to eat
  11. degree — from a university
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. shower — rain
  14. degree — an amount
  15. rock — a stone
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. cue — a hint
  21. degree — temperature
  22. kid — child
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. game — wild animals

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