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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chip — for betting
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — to cut
  6. rest — what's left
  7. tube — a container
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rest — what's left
  14. chip — to eat
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. cap — of ice
  17. rush — hurry
  18. kid — child
  19. rest — a break
  20. cap — a hat
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. cap — a lid
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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