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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. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. She's very handy with a ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We ________________ up on opposing sides.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. snap — to click
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. race — humankind
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. race — a contest
  9. race — the arms race
  10. saw — the tool
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chip — to eat
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. tear — to rip
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. saw — the tool
  18. fork — in a road
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. chip — for betting
  21. wound — an injury
  22. tear — from crying
  23. wound — an injury
  24. wound — past of 'wind'

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