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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. clip — a video
  3. land — ground
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. content — happy
  7. chip — for betting
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. wind — moving air
  10. clip — for paper
  11. charge — electricity
  12. charge — in control
  13. chip — to eat
  14. land — to come down
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. snap — to click
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. content — the amount
  20. kick — in football
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. land — a country
  23. clip — to cut
  24. charge — a price

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