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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. bark — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. clip — a video
  11. chip — to eat
  12. clip — to cut
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bark — to shout
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. chip — for betting
  17. branch — a division
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. dip — to sink
  20. game — a match
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. kick — in football
  24. branch — of a tree

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