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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. kid — child
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. shower — rain
  5. shower — to wash
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. clip — for paper
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. leaves — to go away
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. face — to confront
  12. leaves — lets stay
  13. face — to point toward
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. season — in sport
  17. face — part of the head
  18. trunk — of a car
  19. clip — a video
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. clip — to cut
  22. season — of the year
  23. chip — for betting
  24. kid — to tease

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