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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. march — music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. march — the month
  7. swing — music
  8. cold — an illness
  9. wound — an injury
  10. board — a committee
  11. branch — a division
  12. march — the month
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. swing — to play on
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. chip — to eat
  21. board — to get on
  22. swing — in golf
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cold — the Cold War

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