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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Have you found your soul ________________?
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. cell — a phone
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. chip — for betting
  6. present — the time now
  7. present — there
  8. mate — a partner
  9. bore — to tire
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mate — a friend
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. cell — in biology
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bore — to drill
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. chest — a box
  19. cold — an illness
  20. chest — of your body
  21. present — a gift
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. chip — to eat

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