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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: pitcher · board · dip · game · cold · chip · pop · chest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. board — a flat piece
  4. chest — a box
  5. game — a match
  6. chest — of your body
  7. pop — to visit
  8. chip — to eat
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. dip — to sink
  11. pop — soda
  12. pop — music
  13. game — wild animals
  14. chip — for betting
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cold — an illness
  17. board — a committee
  18. cold — not warm
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. dip — a sauce
  24. board — to get on

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