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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. What do you think of the new ________________?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. cell — a phone
  4. cell — in biology
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. chair — a leader
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. chip — to eat
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. tear — from crying
  11. perch — the fish
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. clip — to cut
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chip — for betting
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. wake — to stop sleeping
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. clip — a video
  22. wake — a trail
  23. tear — from crying
  24. cell — in a prison

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