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

Word bank: wax · cell · clip · march · kick · chip

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. cell — in biology
  3. chip — to eat
  4. wax — to grow
  5. march — music
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wax — for sculpting
  9. clip — for paper
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. march — the month
  14. kick — in football
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. chip — for betting
  17. cell — a phone
  18. march — the month

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