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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  20. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. perch — the fish
  3. chip — to eat
  4. clip — for paper
  5. chip — for betting
  6. mate — to breed
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. capital — money
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rule — government
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. mate — a friend
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. rule — a law
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. capital — a city
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. clip — a video

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