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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: clip · mine · date · chair · chip · fall · current · bear

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  9. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. current — happening now
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. chair — a leader
  6. bear — the animal
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. current — electric
  9. fall — to drop
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. current — of water
  12. clip — for paper
  13. date — the fruit
  14. mine — for digging
  15. chip — to eat
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. chip — for betting
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. fall — to drop
  21. clip — a video
  22. bear — the animal
  23. fall — the season
  24. clip — to cut

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