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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 120 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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: bat · hide · pop · chip · clip · ground · cell · club

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. clip — a video
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. pop — to visit
  5. club — for dancing
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bat — the animal
  8. club — for golf
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. cell — in biology
  11. chip — to eat
  12. pop — music
  13. club — a group
  14. hide — animal skin
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. clip — to cut
  17. ground — crushed
  18. pop — soda
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. ground — a position
  22. clip — for paper
  23. ground — the earth
  24. cell — a phone

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