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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 · straw · tube · hide · swing · ball · wind · chip

  1. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — in a tire
  2. wind — moving air
  3. wind — moving air
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. tube — the underground
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. clip — a video
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. clip — to cut
  11. ball — a dance
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. swing — to play on
  14. clip — for paper
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. ball — a great time
  17. chip — to eat
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. tube — a container
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. swing — music
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. swing — in golf
  24. chip — for betting

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