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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: swing · cell · cold · fall · mug · ball · root · chip

  1. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. mug — a cup
  3. cell — a phone
  4. ball — a dance
  5. fall — the season
  6. cold — not warm
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cell — in biology
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. mug — to rob
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. ball — a great time
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. swing — music
  15. mug — a face
  16. cold — an illness
  17. swing — to play on
  18. chip — to eat
  19. chip — for betting
  20. root — of a plant
  21. root — the cause
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. swing — in golf
  24. root — of a word

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