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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. wind — moving air
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. game — wild animals
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. clip — for paper
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. wind — moving air
  16. chip — to eat
  17. game — a match
  18. clip — to cut
  19. chip — for betting
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. saw — the tool
  24. clip — a video

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