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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. land — a country
  5. kid — child
  6. chip — for betting
  7. kid — to tease
  8. land — to come down
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. branch — a division
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. chip — to eat
  17. land — ground
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. wake — a trail
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. clip — a video
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. chair — a professorship

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