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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  10. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. toast — bread
  3. clip — to cut
  4. bass — low music
  5. chip — to eat
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — a container
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. toast — the most admired
  10. toast — a drink to someone
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. tube — the underground
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. bass — the instrument
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. bark — to shout
  18. game — a match
  19. bark — of a tree
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. chip — for betting
  22. deal — to handle
  23. bass — the fish
  24. game — wild animals

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