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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 124 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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. mate — a friend
  3. clip — to cut
  4. perch — the fish
  5. land — ground
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. craft — boats
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. clip — a video
  10. mate — a partner
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. chip — for betting
  13. mine — for digging
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. craft — a skill
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. clip — for paper
  18. rash — a series
  19. mate — to breed
  20. rash — hasty
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — a country
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. mine — an explosive

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