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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 · trunk · shower · row · dip · chip · key · rule

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. This piece is in a major ________________.
  20. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. row — a line
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. clip — a video
  7. chip — for betting
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chip — to eat
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. rule — government
  12. clip — to cut
  13. rule — a law
  14. shower — to wash
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. key — for a lock
  17. trunk — of a tree
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. key — in music
  20. key — the most important part
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. dip — to sink
  23. shower — rain
  24. row — to paddle

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