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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: bowl · hide · chip · bear · chest · cold · wound · jam

  1. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. jam — a tight spot
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. chip — for betting
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. chest — of your body
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. cold — not warm
  10. chip — to eat
  11. wound — an injury
  12. bowl — a football final
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. chest — a box
  18. bear — the animal
  19. cold — an illness
  20. jam — in traffic
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. wound — an injury
  23. jam — to spread on bread
  24. bear — the animal

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