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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. face — to point toward
  5. clip — a video
  6. face — to confront
  7. can — to be able to
  8. pass — to spend time
  9. chip — for betting
  10. clip — for paper
  11. land — to come down
  12. land — a country
  13. can — a tin
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. can — a tin
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — a line
  20. pass — a permit
  21. row — to paddle
  22. bat — the animal
  23. chip — to eat
  24. face — part of the head

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