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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. The ________________ market has crashed.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. sharp — clever
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. drill — army training
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. game — wild animals
  7. clip — for paper
  8. game — a match
  9. chip — to eat
  10. drill — a practice
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — shares
  14. cold — not warm
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. chip — for betting
  17. drill — the tool
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. cold — an illness
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. clip — to cut
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. clip — a video

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