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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 120 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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  20. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. chip — for betting
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. spell — magic
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. spell — a short time
  10. band — a music group
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. chest — a box
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cell — in biology
  15. net — for catching
  16. file — a document
  17. net — after costs
  18. spell — letters
  19. chip — to eat
  20. net — in sport
  21. cell — a phone
  22. bat — the animal
  23. file — a tool
  24. band — a ring

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