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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: march · tear · chip · pitch · last · cold · cell · bore

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. march — the month
  3. tear — from crying
  4. march — the month
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. last — to go on
  7. cold — an illness
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cold — not warm
  12. bore — to drill
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. last — final
  15. bore — to tire
  16. pitch — completely
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. tear — to rip
  19. last — finally
  20. cell — a phone
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. march — music
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — in biology

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