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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. hand — in cards
  3. chip — for betting
  4. degree — from a university
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. degree — an amount
  7. band — a music group
  8. rule — government
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. band — a ring
  13. cell — in biology
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. chip — to eat
  16. degree — temperature
  17. clip — to cut
  18. hand — help
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. clip — a video
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. cell — a phone
  24. band — a rubber band

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