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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. chip — to eat
  5. content — the amount
  6. degree — an amount
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. clip — to cut
  9. clip — for paper
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. tube — a container
  14. kick — in football
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. chip — for betting
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. content — happy
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. clip — a video
  24. sharp — clever

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