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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 120 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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. mug — a cup
  5. clip — for paper
  6. degree — an amount
  7. staff — a stick
  8. row — to paddle
  9. row — a line
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. staff — employees
  12. chip — to eat
  13. clip — to cut
  14. land — a country
  15. chip — for betting
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. degree — from a university
  18. mug — a face
  19. land — ground
  20. mug — to rob
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. degree — temperature
  23. land — to come down
  24. staff — employees

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