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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 120 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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The ________________ went through the wall.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. degree — an amount
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. clip — to cut
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. mine — for digging
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chip — for betting
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. degree — temperature
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. degree — from a university
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. clip — a video

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