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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: game · clip · mark · wind · tube · chip · board · rest

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  5. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. tube — the underground
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. board — a flat piece
  5. board — to get on
  6. tube — a container
  7. mark — a trace
  8. rest — a break
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. chip — to eat
  12. board — a committee
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. wind — moving air
  15. rest — what's left
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. chip — for betting
  19. game — wild animals
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a grade
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. rest — what's left
  24. clip — a video

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