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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: rash · chip · hand · kid · game · bass · clip · present

  1. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. present — there
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. bass — the fish
  4. rash — hasty
  5. hand — in cards
  6. clip — for paper
  7. kid — to tease
  8. clip — a video
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. chip — to eat
  12. game — a match
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. hand — help
  15. present — a gift
  16. rash — a series
  17. kid — child
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. game — wild animals
  20. present — the time now
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. bass — low music
  23. chip — for betting
  24. clip — to cut

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