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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 strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. tear — to rip
  3. hand — help
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. hand — in cards
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. chip — to eat
  8. clip — to cut
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. bound — obliged
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. tear — from crying
  14. tear — from crying
  15. clip — for paper
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. clip — a video
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bound — certain
  22. snap — to click
  23. bound — tied together
  24. chip — for betting

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