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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 116 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: land · clip · cell · saw · field · chip

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. land — ground
  3. chip — for betting
  4. clip — a video
  5. chip — to eat
  6. cell — a phone
  7. field — a subject
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. clip — for paper
  10. field — farmland
  11. clip — to cut
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. land — a country
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — the tool
  17. land — to come down
  18. field — for sport

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