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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. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. cell — in biology
  4. clip — a video
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. mine — for digging
  7. pop — to visit
  8. rash — hasty
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. bulb — of a plant
  11. chip — for betting
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pop — soda
  14. bulb — for light
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. rash — a series
  17. clip — for paper
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. cell — a phone
  20. perch — the fish
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bulb — for light
  23. clip — to cut
  24. pop — music

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