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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 116 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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — a partner
  5. deal — to handle
  6. tear — from crying
  7. clip — for paper
  8. tear — to rip
  9. chip — for betting
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. clip — a video
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. wake — a trail
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. mate — to breed
  19. mate — a friend
  20. clip — to cut
  21. cold — not warm
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. tear — from crying

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