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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 120 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 ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. chip — for betting
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. clip — a video
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. wound — an injury
  9. field — a subject
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. chip — to eat
  13. wound — an injury
  14. saw — the tool
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. saw — the tool
  18. field — for sport
  19. clip — for paper
  20. scale — in music
  21. scale — size or range
  22. field — farmland
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. clip — to cut

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