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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: wound · pitcher · field · chip · bound · deal · last · cold

  1. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. field — a subject
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. field — farmland
  8. cold — an illness
  9. bound — obliged
  10. chip — for betting
  11. wound — an injury
  12. deal — to handle
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bound — certain
  16. chip — to eat
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. last — finally
  21. bound — tied together
  22. cold — not warm
  23. field — for sport
  24. last — to go on

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