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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 · cold · deal · court · band · rule

  1. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. 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. band — a music group
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. band — a ring
  4. chip — for betting
  5. rule — a law
  6. chip — to eat
  7. court — of a king
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. deal — to handle
  10. cold — not warm
  11. cold — an illness
  12. deal — an agreement
  13. court — for sport
  14. rule — government
  15. deal — a big deal
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. court — of law
  18. 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