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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. wind — moving air
  3. fine — all right
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. fan — to cool the air
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. chip — for betting
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — for paper
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. cold — not warm
  15. wind — moving air
  16. ground — the earth
  17. fine — high quality
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ground — a position
  21. chip — to eat
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. ground — crushed

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