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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: cold · bear · chair · tear · chip · pitcher · saw · bank

  1. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  2. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  3. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a leader
  2. bank — for money
  3. bear — the animal
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. bank — of a river
  8. saw — the tool
  9. tear — from crying
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. chip — to eat
  21. saw — the tool
  22. chip — for betting
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. bank — for money

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