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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pound — a weight
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. chip — to eat
  4. cell — a phone
  5. cell — in biology
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cold — an illness
  8. chip — for betting
  9. cold — not warm
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. mate — a friend
  12. kid — to tease
  13. sharp — clever
  14. mate — to breed
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — moving air
  22. kid — child
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. mate — a partner

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