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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chip — for betting
  3. spring — a coil
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. spring — of water
  6. bore — to drill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chip — to eat
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. clip — for paper
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. bore — to tire
  13. spring — the season
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pop — music
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. saw — the tool
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. pop — soda
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. pop — to visit
  24. mouse — for a computer

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