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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: hide · ground · chip · cap · prune · straw · fine · clip

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. chip — to eat
  3. clip — to cut
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. prune — to trim
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. fine — high quality
  8. clip — for paper
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. prune — to trim
  13. fine — all right
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. cap — a hat
  17. ground — the earth
  18. cap — of ice
  19. ground — crushed
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. chip — for betting
  22. ground — a position
  23. clip — a video
  24. cap — a lid

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