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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: cold · chip · bat · arm · staff · plane · jam · pit

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. My father caught me by the ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. cold — not warm
  3. plane — a tool
  4. cold — an illness
  5. staff — a stick
  6. bat — the animal
  7. staff — employees
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. chip — to eat
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. staff — employees
  14. pit — in a race
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. pit — a hole
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. cold — the Cold War

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