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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: mate · chip · staff · cold · bear · current · clip · shower

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. staff — employees
  3. shower — a meteor shower
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. staff — a stick
  6. bear — the animal
  7. chip — to eat
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chip — for betting
  10. mate — to breed
  11. cold — an illness
  12. bear — the animal
  13. clip — for paper
  14. clip — a video
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. shower — to wash
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. current — happening now
  20. staff — employees
  21. shower — rain
  22. current — of water
  23. current — electric
  24. mate — a friend

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