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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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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: hide · tear · ball · clip · prune · fall · net · chip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. chip — for betting
  3. net — in sport
  4. ball — a great time
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. ball — a dance
  7. prune — to trim
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chip — to eat
  14. clip — to cut
  15. net — after costs
  16. tear — from crying
  17. tear — from crying
  18. fall — the season
  19. fall — to drop
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. clip — a video
  22. net — for catching
  23. ball — a round shape
  24. tear — to rip

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