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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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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: squash · bat · saw · clip · bulb · chip · game · hide

  1. I've got to change the light ________________.
  2. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — for light
  2. bulb — of a plant
  3. game — wild animals
  4. bulb — for light
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. clip — for paper
  8. saw — the tool
  9. game — a match
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. chip — for betting
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. chip — to eat
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. squash — the sport
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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