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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 120 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 hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. pound — a weight
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. chip — to eat
  7. spring — the season
  8. can — to be able to
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. clip — for paper
  14. rule — to rule out
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. can — a tin
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. rule — a law
  20. chip — for betting
  21. rule — government
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. can — a tin
  24. spring — a coil

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