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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: mate · tear · chip · cold · swing · sharp · straw · firm

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. David sat on the ________________.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. chip — for betting
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. tear — to rip
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. cold — an illness
  8. mate — to breed
  9. chip — to eat
  10. firm — a company
  11. swing — music
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. cold — not warm
  14. firm — steady
  15. tear — from crying
  16. firm — decided
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. sharp — clever
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. swing — to play on
  21. mate — a friend
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. tear — from crying
  24. swing — in golf

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