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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. fall — to drop
  6. fall — the season
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. cold — not warm
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. cold — an illness
  14. fall — to drop
  15. racket — a loud noise
  16. stand — to bear
  17. chip — for betting
  18. clip — to cut

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