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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: chip · press · bay · bark · cold · scale · fall · nail

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. The ________________ went through the wall.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. fall — the season
  3. chip — for betting
  4. fall — to drop
  5. cold — an illness
  6. press — newspapers
  7. fall — to drop
  8. press — a publisher
  9. scale — size or range
  10. press — to push
  11. bark — to shout
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. cold — not warm
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. chip — to eat
  24. scale — in music

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