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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. ground — crushed
  3. chip — for betting
  4. mate — to breed
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mate — a friend
  7. ground — the earth
  8. land — ground
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — a video
  11. land — a country
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. spell — magic
  15. tube — a container
  16. land — to come down
  17. tube — the underground
  18. ground — a position
  19. spell — a short time
  20. chip — to eat
  21. spell — letters
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. mate — a partner
  24. clip — for paper

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