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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 120 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'd like to play a game of ________________.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. The tickets are free of ________________.
  18. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. squash — the sport
  2. net — for catching
  3. net — in sport
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. mug — a face
  6. tear — to rip
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. cold — not warm
  9. cold — an illness
  10. mug — to rob
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. charge — in control
  13. chip — to eat
  14. net — after costs
  15. squash — to crush
  16. last — final
  17. charge — a price
  18. charge — electricity
  19. tear — from crying
  20. last — to go on
  21. mug — a cup
  22. tear — from crying
  23. chip — for betting
  24. last — finally

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