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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. present — there
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. pop — to visit
  5. spring — of water
  6. spring — a coil
  7. spring — the season
  8. chip — to eat
  9. chip — for betting
  10. pop — music
  11. kid — to tease
  12. clip — to cut
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pop — soda
  15. patient — calm and waiting
  16. present — the time now
  17. present — a gift
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. clip — a video
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. ground — the earth
  22. kid — child
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — crushed

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