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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: chest · dip · straw · cap · track · toast · chip · cold

  1. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. toast — bread
  4. chest — of your body
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. chip — to eat
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. cap — a lid
  10. track — a path
  11. chest — a box
  12. track — a song
  13. toast — a drink to someone
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. cold — an illness
  16. track — to keep track
  17. cap — a hat
  18. chest — of your body
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. dip — to sink
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. cold — not warm
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — for betting

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