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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 116 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: pop · mug · cold · chip · sharp · stock · clip · cell

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. clip — for paper
  3. sharp — clever
  4. cold — an illness
  5. stock — goods
  6. pop — music
  7. cell — a phone
  8. stock — a soup base
  9. chip — to eat
  10. mug — a cup
  11. cell — in biology
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pop — soda
  14. cold — not warm
  15. mug — to rob
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. mug — a face
  19. clip — to cut
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chip — for betting
  22. pop — to visit
  23. stock — shares
  24. clip — a video

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