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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  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. hand — help
  2. present — a gift
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. chip — to eat
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. hand — in cards
  7. present — there
  8. chip — for betting
  9. stock — goods
  10. race — a contest
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. present — the time now
  13. stock — shares
  14. clip — a video
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. squash — the sport
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — the arms race
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. clip — for paper
  21. squash — to crush
  22. clip — to cut
  23. patient — a sick person
  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