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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: last · chip · present · cold · fork · land · mate · race

  1. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. False peace will not ________________.
  19. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. present — the time now
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. chip — to eat
  5. last — finally
  6. chip — for betting
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. cold — not warm
  9. race — the arms race
  10. last — final
  11. present — there
  12. cold — an illness
  13. present — a gift
  14. land — to come down
  15. mate — a friend
  16. fork — in a road
  17. mate — a partner
  18. last — to go on
  19. land — a country
  20. race — humankind
  21. race — a contest
  22. mate — to breed
  23. land — ground
  24. cold — the Cold War

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