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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: content · firm · cold · chip · chest · wound · racket · fall

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. firm — steady
  3. cold — an illness
  4. chip — for betting
  5. fall — the season
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. chip — to eat
  9. fall — to drop
  10. content — happy
  11. firm — a company
  12. wound — an injury
  13. cold — not warm
  14. firm — decided
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. wound — an injury
  17. content — the amount
  18. fall — to drop
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. chest — of your body

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