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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.

Words on the sheet
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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 · ball · chair · wound · track · rush · wind

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. wound — an injury
  6. track — a path
  7. chip — to eat
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. wound — an injury
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. track — a song
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. wind — moving air
  14. chair — a leader
  15. cold — not warm
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. track — to keep track
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. rush — hurry
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. ball — a dance
  23. ball — a great time
  24. chip — for betting

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