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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 116 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're almost out of ________________.
  2. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Did you ________________ the meat?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I can't ________________ this cold.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. season — of the year
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. season — in sport
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. chip — to eat
  8. hand — help
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. pop — to visit
  12. clip — a video
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. season — to add flavour
  16. row — a line
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. pop — music
  19. stand — to bear
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. clip — for paper
  23. row — to paddle
  24. hand — in cards

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