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

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  16. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. rash — a series
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bank — of a river
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. pitch — completely
  9. chip — to eat
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. clip — a video
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. shower — rain
  14. chip — for betting
  15. bank — for money
  16. bank — for money
  17. bat — the animal
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. date — the fruit
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rash — hasty

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