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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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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 · chip · mug · bass · clip · straw · wound · race

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  9. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  10. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  14. The ball is in your ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. clip — to cut
  3. straw — dry grass
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. clip — for paper
  6. race — humankind
  7. race — the arms race
  8. mug — a face
  9. mug — a cup
  10. court — of law
  11. wound — an injury
  12. court — of a king
  13. straw — to clutch at straws
  14. court — for sport
  15. race — a contest
  16. clip — a video
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. chip — for betting
  19. wound — an injury
  20. bass — low music
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. bass — the fish
  23. bass — the instrument
  24. mug — to rob

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