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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: nail · file · cold · chip · spell · saw

  1. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — past of 'see'
  2. cold — not warm
  3. saw — the tool
  4. spell — a short time
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. chip — to eat
  7. file — a tool
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a document
  12. saw — the tool
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. chip — for betting
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. spell — magic
  18. nail — for a hammer

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