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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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  7. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  8. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  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. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. wake — a trail
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. wake — before a funeral
  7. rule — government
  8. band — a music group
  9. mate — a partner
  10. clip — for paper
  11. clip — to cut
  12. chip — for betting
  13. hand — in cards
  14. hand — help
  15. band — a ring
  16. game — wild animals
  17. rule — a law
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. mate — a friend
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. game — a match
  22. mate — to breed
  23. rule — to rule out
  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