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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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Word bank
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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 · jam · game · cold · pop · chest · swing · mine

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. game — a match
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. swing — in golf
  5. jam — in traffic
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. jam — a tight spot
  9. pop — music
  10. chip — to eat
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. chest — of your body
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. pop — soda
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. swing — music
  17. swing — to play on
  18. game — wild animals
  19. pop — to visit
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. chip — for betting
  22. mine — for digging
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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