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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 120 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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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: fork · clip · perch · lash · mine · cell · chip · net

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  7. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. clip — a video
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. net — in sport
  7. perch — the fish
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. cell — in biology
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. chip — to eat
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fork — in a road
  16. cell — a phone
  17. fork — a garden tool
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. chip — for betting
  20. net — for catching
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. clip — to cut
  23. net — after costs
  24. mine — an explosive

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