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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.

Words on the sheet
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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: scale · hand · date · clip · race · straw · chip · fine

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Have you settled on a ________________?
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. race — humankind
  3. race — a contest
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. hand — in cards
  7. clip — a video
  8. hand — help
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. fine — all right
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. scale — in music
  13. scale — size or range
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. clip — for paper
  18. fine — high quality
  19. fine — a penalty
  20. date — the fruit
  21. race — the arms race
  22. chip — for betting
  23. chip — in a computer
  24. chip — to eat

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