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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. charge — electricity
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. foot — a measure
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cold — an illness
  12. charge — in control
  13. file — a tool
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. wake — a trail
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. charge — a price
  18. perch — the fish
  19. file — a document
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. file — a line of people
  24. perch — for a bird

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