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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 124 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. wind — moving air
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. tube — the underground
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. hand — in cards
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. clip — a video
  10. clip — to cut
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. wind — moving air
  13. chip — to eat
  14. bat — the animal
  15. tube — a container
  16. hand — help
  17. date — the fruit
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wave — of the sea
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chip — for betting
  24. date — on the calendar

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