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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. board — a committee
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cell — a phone
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. march — music
  8. march — the month
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. scale — in music
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. mouse — the animal
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. board — to get on
  19. cell — in biology
  20. chip — to eat
  21. branch — a division
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. march — the month
  24. cell — in a prison

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