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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. present — a gift
  4. hand — help
  5. hand — in cards
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. chip — to eat
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. mate — a partner
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. mate — a friend
  13. present — the time now
  14. chip — for betting
  15. clip — for paper
  16. clip — to cut
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. clip — a video
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. net — in sport
  23. present — there
  24. mate — to breed

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