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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: pound · staff · cell · tear · mine · chip

  1. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  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. mine — belonging to me
  2. staff — employees
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. mine — for digging
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. chip — to eat
  7. cell — in biology
  8. staff — employees
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. staff — a stick
  12. pound — a weight
  13. chip — for betting
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. tear — from crying
  17. chip — in a computer
  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