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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 116 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. chip — to eat
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cap — a hat
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. clip — for paper
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. pitch — completely
  9. kick — in football
  10. row — to paddle
  11. clip — a video
  12. kick — with a leg
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. cap — a lid
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. file — a line of people
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. cap — of ice
  21. file — a tool
  22. chip — for betting
  23. row — a line
  24. file — a document

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