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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: present · degree · saw · rule · chip · shower · cell · clip

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. saw — the tool
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. present — there
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. shower — to wash
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. chip — to eat
  9. rule — government
  10. saw — the tool
  11. shower — rain
  12. clip — a video
  13. clip — to cut
  14. rule — a law
  15. chip — for betting
  16. degree — from a university
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. degree — temperature
  19. present — a gift
  20. present — the time now
  21. cell — in biology
  22. clip — for paper
  23. cell — a phone
  24. degree — an amount

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