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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. net — for catching
  3. degree — from a university
  4. rule — government
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. rule — a law
  11. file — a document
  12. net — in sport
  13. chip — for betting
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. file — a line of people
  16. net — after costs
  17. clip — to cut
  18. degree — an amount
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. degree — temperature
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. bat — the animal
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. file — a tool

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