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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: tear · court · toast · cold · date · bat · chip · mine

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  17. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chip — for betting
  4. cold — an illness
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. toast — bread
  8. bat — the animal
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. date — the fruit
  11. cold — not warm
  12. tear — to rip
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. tear — from crying
  16. toast — the most admired
  17. court — of law
  18. court — of a king
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. court — for sport
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. chip — to eat
  24. tear — from crying

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