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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: chip · race · last · racket · hand · game · key · clip

  1. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  22. False peace will not ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. clip — for paper
  3. last — finally
  4. game — a match
  5. chip — for betting
  6. race — the arms race
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. game — wild animals
  9. race — a contest
  10. chip — to eat
  11. last — final
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. clip — to cut
  15. key — in music
  16. hand — in cards
  17. hand — help
  18. key — the most important part
  19. race — humankind
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. key — for a lock
  22. last — to go on
  23. game — a kind of play
  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