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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: cold · foot · sharp · chip · tear · pop · saw · straw

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. We're almost out of ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. She's very handy with a ________________.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — to eat
  5. chip — for betting
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — an illness
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. foot — a measure
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. pop — soda
  16. saw — the tool
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. pop — music
  19. saw — the tool
  20. pop — to visit
  21. cold — not warm
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. tear — from crying

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