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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chip · pop · cold · march · bay · tear

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. chip — to eat
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — music
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. pop — to visit
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. cold — an illness
  11. march — the month
  12. bay — a part of the sea
  13. pop — soda
  14. tear — from crying
  15. pop — music
  16. march — the month
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. chip — for betting

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