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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 116 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · perch · clip · hand · mine · drill · chip · hide

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. mine — for digging
  3. clip — a video
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. chip — for betting
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. drill — the tool
  8. court — of a king
  9. chip — to eat
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. drill — a practice
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. hand — in cards
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. court — for sport
  19. drill — army training
  20. hand — help
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. perch — the fish
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. court — of law

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