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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.

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: squash · clip · rash · chair · ball · cap · file · net

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. clip — to cut
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. net — in sport
  5. ball — a dance
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. rash — hasty
  9. file — a document
  10. cap — a hat
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. squash — to crush
  13. chair — a leader
  14. clip — a video
  15. squash — the sport
  16. net — for catching
  17. cap — of ice
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. clip — for paper
  20. file — a tool
  21. file — a line of people
  22. rash — a series
  23. cap — a lid
  24. net — after costs

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