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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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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: pit · rest · chip · bat · clip · mark · file · row

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. file — a line of people
  3. chip — for betting
  4. clip — to cut
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mark — to pay attention
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. file — a tool
  10. rest — a break
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. row — to paddle
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mark — a grade
  17. rest — what's left
  18. row — a line
  19. chip — to eat
  20. file — a document
  21. clip — a video
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. mark — a trace
  24. clip — for paper

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