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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  24. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. wind — moving air
  3. bass — low music
  4. board — to get on
  5. chip — for betting
  6. wind — moving air
  7. board — a committee
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. present — there
  10. cold — an illness
  11. present — a gift
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. present — the time now
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. stem — to come from
  17. chip — to eat
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. bass — the fish
  20. net — after costs
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — for catching
  23. stem — of a plant
  24. stem — a stem cell

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