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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 116 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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. I'll be taking the ________________.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. clip — for paper
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. clip — a video
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. land — to come down
  7. tube — a container
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chip — for betting
  10. land — a country
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. fork — in a road
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bound — tied together
  15. tube — the underground
  16. bound — obliged
  17. land — ground
  18. bound — certain

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