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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: chip · shower · mug · cabinet · cold · field · bat · chair

  1. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — rain
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. field — a subject
  4. mug — a face
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. field — for sport
  8. shower — to wash
  9. chair — a leader
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chip — for betting
  16. chip — to eat
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bat — the animal
  22. mug — to rob
  23. mug — a cup
  24. field — farmland

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