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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: temple · perch · deal · snap · cold · content · chip · fork

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  16. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. perch — the fish
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. chip — to eat
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. content — happy
  10. content — the amount
  11. chip — for betting
  12. fork — in a road
  13. cold — an illness
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. deal — to handle
  16. deal — a big deal
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. cold — not warm
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. cold — the Cold War

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