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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: clip · rule · chest · spring · chip · leaves · cap · mate

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. chest — of your body
  3. clip — a video
  4. chip — for betting
  5. mate — a partner
  6. cap — of ice
  7. spring — of water
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. mate — to breed
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. spring — the season
  13. chest — a box
  14. clip — to cut
  15. chip — to eat
  16. cap — a hat
  17. rule — a law
  18. chest — of your body
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. mate — a friend
  21. clip — for paper
  22. cap — a lid
  23. leaves — lets stay
  24. rule — government

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