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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 120 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: hide · content · land · chip · chair · race · arm · cold

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  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. cold — an illness
  2. race — the arms race
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. land — ground
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. chip — to eat
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — not warm
  9. land — to come down
  10. content — happy
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. chip — for betting
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. content — the amount
  15. race — a contest
  16. chair — a leader
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. land — a country
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. race — humankind
  23. hide — animal skin
  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