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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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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 · kid · deal · chair · clip · cell

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  7. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. clip — a video
  5. kid — child
  6. deal — an agreement
  7. chair — a professorship
  8. clip — to cut
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. deal — to handle
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. chair — a leader
  15. cell — in biology
  16. clip — for paper
  17. nail — on a finger
  18. cell — a phone

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