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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: snap · spring · row · fork · tear · current · clip · chip

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. current — happening now
  3. tear — from crying
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. row — a line
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. tear — from crying
  10. row — to paddle
  11. current — of water
  12. fork — in a road
  13. clip — to cut
  14. snap — to click
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. clip — a video
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. clip — for paper
  19. current — electric
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. chip — to eat
  23. tear — to rip
  24. chip — for betting

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