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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  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. foot — the bottom
  2. game — wild animals
  3. clip — to cut
  4. game — a match
  5. stand — for spectators
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. fine — high quality
  9. mine — for digging
  10. degree — an amount
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. degree — temperature
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. chip — for betting
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fine — a penalty
  17. stand — to bear
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. chip — to eat
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. foot — a measure
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. fine — all right
  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