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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: cold · content · snap · field · fork · chip · fine · jam

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. Would you like some apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. fine — all right
  3. chip — for betting
  4. fine — a penalty
  5. cold — an illness
  6. jam — a tight spot
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. snap — to click
  9. fork — in a road
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. chip — to eat
  13. content — happy
  14. content — the amount
  15. cold — not warm
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. fine — high quality
  18. field — a subject
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. field — for sport
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. field — farmland
  24. jam — to spread on bread

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