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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 116 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: row · fork · coach · present · chip · ground · cell · cold

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. chip — for betting
  3. cold — not warm
  4. present — a gift
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. ground — crushed
  8. row — a line
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. chip — to eat
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cell — a phone
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. present — there
  20. row — to paddle
  21. fork — in a road
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. ground — the earth
  24. present — the time now

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