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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  22. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — steady
  2. hand — help
  3. kid — child
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. stand — to bear
  6. land — to come down
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. kid — to tease
  9. stand — for spectators
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chip — for betting
  13. cold — an illness
  14. land — a country
  15. land — ground
  16. firm — decided
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. hand — in cards
  21. firm — a company
  22. stand — on your feet
  23. chip — to eat
  24. straw — a straw man

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