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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  4. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. rule — a law
  4. chair — to sit on
  5. chip — to eat
  6. cold — not warm
  7. rock — a stone
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. chip — for betting
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. rule — government
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. dip — to sink
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. cold — an illness
  18. rash — hasty
  19. rash — a series
  20. clip — for paper
  21. chair — a leader
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — on the skin

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