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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: scale · wound · bat · squash · track · clip · chip · dip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wound — an injury
  5. track — a song
  6. dip — to sink
  7. track — a path
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bat — the animal
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. chip — for betting
  13. scale — in music
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. wound — an injury
  16. track — to keep track
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. squash — the sport
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. squash — to crush
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. scale — size or range

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