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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: bark · pound · wound · capital · clip · file · chip · race

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. capital — a city
  5. chip — for betting
  6. file — a line of people
  7. clip — a video
  8. capital — money
  9. clip — for paper
  10. race — a contest
  11. wound — an injury
  12. wound — an injury
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. file — a document
  16. bark — to shout
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. file — a tool
  19. race — the arms race
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. clip — to cut
  22. pound — a weight
  23. chip — to eat
  24. race — humankind

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