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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: chip · mug · arm · stick · foot · cold · wake · file

  1. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Where did you ________________ them?
  4. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  15. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. mug — to rob
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. cold — an illness
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. chip — to eat
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. chip — for betting
  12. wake — to stop sleeping
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. file — a tool
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. file — a line of people
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. file — a document
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. foot — a measure
  22. mug — a cup
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. wake — a trail

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