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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. When are we going to ________________?
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — to come down
  2. net — in sport
  3. net — for catching
  4. clip — for paper
  5. clip — a video
  6. net — after costs
  7. chip — for betting
  8. clip — to cut
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. field — farmland
  11. land — a country
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. chip — to eat
  14. stick — to attach or keep to
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — a subject
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. land — ground

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