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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. chip — for betting
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wound — an injury
  9. bound — obliged
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to click
  12. bound — tied together
  13. field — for sport
  14. bound — certain
  15. clip — to cut
  16. chip — to eat
  17. last — to go on
  18. rush — to hurry
  19. field — a subject
  20. last — finally
  21. field — farmland
  22. wound — an injury
  23. clip — a video
  24. last — final

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