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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  3. We're on a ________________ here.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. branch — a division
  3. roll — on a roll
  4. clip — for paper
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. chip — for betting
  7. chest — of your body
  8. clip — to cut
  9. current — happening now
  10. chip — to eat
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. roll — a list
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. capital — a city
  15. current — of water
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. current — electric
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. clip — a video
  21. game — wild animals
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. game — a match
  24. capital — money

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