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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. Let us try to swim against the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. chip — for betting
  3. current — electric
  4. chip — to eat
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. chest — of your body
  7. clip — to cut
  8. kid — to tease
  9. scale — in music
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. kid — child
  12. clip — a video
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. chest — of your body
  17. current — happening now
  18. chest — a box
  19. season — in sport
  20. clip — for paper
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. season — of the year
  24. current — of water

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