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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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. You don't need to ________________ round.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. land — a country
  3. pop — to visit
  4. pop — soda
  5. fork — in a road
  6. object — to protest
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. bound — obliged
  9. clip — to cut
  10. chip — for betting
  11. object — a thing
  12. pop — music
  13. land — ground
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. bound — tied together
  17. chip — to eat
  18. bound — certain
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. clip — a video
  21. object — an aim
  22. clip — for paper
  23. land — to come down
  24. tube — a container

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