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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: plane · straw · cold · shower · race · bark · cue · chip

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. The ________________ took off on time.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. plane — an aircraft
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. plane — a tool
  6. race — humankind
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. race — the arms race
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. bark — to shout
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. cue — a hint
  13. cue — a signal
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. shower — rain
  17. cold — an illness
  18. cue — for pool
  19. race — a contest
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chip — to eat
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. shower — to wash
  24. chip — in a computer

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