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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — of the year
  2. clip — a video
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. tube — a container
  6. last — final
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. chip — for betting
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. clip — for paper
  12. game — wild animals
  13. season — in sport
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. wound — an injury
  16. game — a match
  17. last — to go on
  18. chip — to eat
  19. tube — the underground
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. snap — to click
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. last — finally
  24. wound — an injury

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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