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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: cap · cold · ground · kid · chip · court · race · present

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. chip — for betting
  3. cold — not warm
  4. ground — a position
  5. present — the time now
  6. race — the arms race
  7. kid — to tease
  8. cold — an illness
  9. court — of law
  10. court — for sport
  11. present — a gift
  12. court — of a king
  13. ground — the earth
  14. cap — of ice
  15. race — a contest
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. cap — a lid
  18. kid — child
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. cap — a hat
  21. race — humankind
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. present — there
  24. chip — to eat

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