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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: staff · date · chair · tear · chip · spring · cold · racket

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. tear — to rip
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tear — from crying
  6. spring — a coil
  7. chip — to eat
  8. cold — not warm
  9. spring — of water
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. chair — a leader
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. staff — employees
  15. staff — employees
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. spring — the season
  19. date — the fruit
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. tear — from crying
  23. racket — for tennis
  24. staff — a stick

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