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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  6. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chip — to eat
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. pass — to succeed
  6. key — for a lock
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. squash — to crush
  9. tear — from crying
  10. game — wild animals
  11. tear — to rip
  12. squash — the sport
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. clip — to cut
  16. key — in music
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. chip — for betting
  19. game — a match
  20. key — the most important part
  21. pass — a permit
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. clip — a video
  24. chip — in a computer

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