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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  5. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. kid — child
  3. firm — decided
  4. can — a tin
  5. firm — a company
  6. root — of a word
  7. wax — in the ear
  8. firm — steady
  9. can — a tin
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. chip — to eat
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. file — a line of people
  14. cold — an illness
  15. wax — to grow
  16. root — of a plant
  17. chip — for betting
  18. file — a document
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. can — to be able to
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. kid — to tease
  23. root — the cause
  24. file — a tool

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