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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: mark · straw · chip · rock · cold · bat · deal · key

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  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 — not warm
  2. deal — to handle
  3. mark — a trace
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — the most important part
  12. cold — an illness
  13. key — in music
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. chip — to eat
  17. rock — a stone
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. mark — a grade
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. chip — for betting
  22. rock — music
  23. bat — the animal
  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