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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. game — a match
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. lean — thin
  5. clip — for paper
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lean — to bend
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. charge — electricity
  11. ground — crushed
  12. game — wild animals
  13. charge — a price
  14. cold — an illness
  15. clip — a video
  16. clip — to cut
  17. chip — for betting
  18. ground — the earth
  19. wound — an injury
  20. wound — an injury
  21. charge — in control
  22. cold — not warm
  23. ground — a position
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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