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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. The King held a masked ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. ball — a dance
  3. chip — to eat
  4. bound — obliged
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. hand — help
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. bound — tied together
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. hand — in cards
  13. tube — the underground
  14. game — wild animals
  15. ball — a great time
  16. game — a match
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. chip — for betting
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bound — certain
  22. tube — a container
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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