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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. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Where did you ________________ them?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. clip — a video
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. face — to confront
  5. net — after costs
  6. mug — a cup
  7. content — happy
  8. face — to point toward
  9. chip — to eat
  10. capital — a city
  11. chip — for betting
  12. clip — to cut
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. face — part of the head
  15. mug — to rob
  16. net — for catching
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. clip — for paper
  19. content — the amount
  20. capital — money
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. mug — a face
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. net — in sport

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