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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wound — an injury
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. deal — to handle
  14. branch — a division
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. chip — for betting
  17. chest — a box
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chest — of your body
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. wound — an injury
  24. bowl — a football final

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