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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: tear · bore · cold · chip · net · chair · swing · date

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Have you settled on a ________________?
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. tear — from crying
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — in sport
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. chip — for betting
  9. bore — to drill
  10. net — after costs
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. swing — to play on
  14. tear — to rip
  15. net — for catching
  16. chair — a leader
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. bore — to tire
  19. swing — music
  20. swing — in golf
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chair — a professorship

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