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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: hand · rush · spring · clip · race · chip · rule · wind

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  24. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. clip — a video
  3. rush — hurry
  4. rule — government
  5. rule — a law
  6. spring — the season
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. race — humankind
  9. clip — for paper
  10. race — the arms race
  11. wind — moving air
  12. clip — to cut
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. spring — a coil
  15. hand — in cards
  16. chip — to eat
  17. hand — help
  18. chip — for betting
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. wind — moving air
  22. race — a contest
  23. rush — to hurry
  24. rule — to rule out

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