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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: chest · foot · tear · nail · cold · charge · chip · club

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. foot — a measure
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. club — for golf
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. chip — for betting
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chip — to eat
  9. tear — to rip
  10. foot — part of the body
  11. chest — a box
  12. charge — electricity
  13. charge — a price
  14. foot — the bottom
  15. club — for dancing
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. charge — in control
  20. chest — of your body
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. tear — from crying
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. club — a group

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