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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: roll · cold · net · tear · hide · mate · chip · pitcher

  1. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. roll — a cake
  5. cold — an illness
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. chip — to eat
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. chip — for betting
  13. mate — a friend
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. net — after costs
  18. net — for catching
  19. cold — not warm
  20. net — in sport
  21. roll — a list
  22. hide — animal skin
  23. tear — to rip
  24. mate — a partner

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