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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. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. fall — the season
  3. mine — for digging
  4. chip — to eat
  5. clip — to cut
  6. clip — a video
  7. mug — to rob
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. degree — an amount
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. branch — a division
  12. branch — of a tree
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. court — of law
  15. degree — from a university
  16. mug — a face
  17. degree — temperature
  18. mug — a cup
  19. chip — for betting
  20. fall — to drop
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. clip — for paper
  23. court — for sport
  24. court — of a king

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