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

Word bank: arm · cold · chip · mine · pitch · track · wind · kick

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. chip — for betting
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. cold — not warm
  6. wind — moving air
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. chip — to eat
  9. mine — for digging
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. cold — an illness
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. kick — in football
  16. track — a song
  17. track — to keep track
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. track — a path
  20. pitch — completely
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. wind — moving air

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