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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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468
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: fork · land · rule · clip · chip · bound · fan · root

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  6. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  13. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. clip — a video
  3. bound — certain
  4. clip — for paper
  5. chip — in a computer
  6. root — of a word
  7. land — ground
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. rule — a law
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. bound — obliged
  12. fan — to cool the air
  13. rule — to rule out
  14. bound — tied together
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. root — of a plant
  18. land — a country
  19. chip — to eat
  20. rule — government
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. land — to come down
  23. fork — in a road
  24. root — the cause

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