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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. spell — magic
  3. clip — a video
  4. bark — to shout
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. spell — a short time
  8. spell — letters
  9. stock — goods
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. firm — steady
  16. chip — to eat
  17. firm — a company
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. chip — for betting
  22. clip — to cut
  23. bark — of a tree
  24. firm — decided

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