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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 124 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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chip — for betting
  4. game — a match
  5. sharp — clever
  6. current — electric
  7. clip — to cut
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. foot — a measure
  10. chip — to eat
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. scale — size or range
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. current — of water
  17. chest — of your body
  18. current — happening now
  19. game — wild animals
  20. chest — a box
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. scale — in music
  23. clip — a video
  24. chip — in a computer

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