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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. bass — low music
  3. shower — to wash
  4. root — of a plant
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. tear — from crying
  7. root — of a word
  8. chip — for betting
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. tear — to rip
  12. swing — music
  13. clip — to cut
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bass — the fish
  16. chip — to eat
  17. game — wild animals
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. clip — a video
  21. root — the cause
  22. game — a match
  23. shower — rain
  24. swing — in golf

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