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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  4. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He is an ace ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. What do you think of the new ________________?
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. clip — a video
  3. face — to confront
  4. face — part of the head
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chip — for betting
  8. face — to point toward
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pitcher — in baseball
  11. mark — a grade
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. mark — a trace
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. cabinet — ministers
  20. kid — child
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. cold — an illness
  23. kid — to tease
  24. chip — in a computer

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