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

Word bank: clip · band · lie · race · chip · wind · stock · season

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. clip — to cut
  3. band — a ring
  4. chip — to eat
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. clip — for paper
  7. chip — for betting
  8. stock — goods
  9. lie — to recline
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. wind — moving air
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. race — humankind
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. race — the arms race
  16. clip — a video
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. wind — moving air
  20. band — a music group
  21. race — a contest
  22. stock — shares
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. season — of the year

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