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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 · degree · fine · race · chip · swing · wind · ball

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  15. David sat on the ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. swing — in golf
  4. degree — temperature
  5. chip — to eat
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. clip — a video
  9. wind — moving air
  10. degree — from a university
  11. clip — for paper
  12. chip — for betting
  13. ball — a great time
  14. swing — music
  15. swing — to play on
  16. fine — all right
  17. degree — an amount
  18. race — the arms race
  19. race — humankind
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. race — a contest
  22. clip — to cut
  23. fine — high quality
  24. ball — a dance

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