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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. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. mouse — for a computer
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. clip — for paper
  7. can — to be able to
  8. rest — what's left
  9. degree — an amount
  10. row — to paddle
  11. can — a tin
  12. chip — to eat
  13. mouse — the animal
  14. can — a tin
  15. rest — a break
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. rest — what's left
  18. degree — from a university
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — a video
  22. wound — an injury
  23. wound — an injury
  24. clip — to cut

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