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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: suit · cold · chair · chip · clip · vault

  1. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  12. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. When will it ________________ you to start?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — a professorship
  2. chair — a leader
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. cold — an illness
  6. clip — a video
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. suit — in cards
  11. vault — in gymnastics
  12. suit — clothes
  13. chip — to eat
  14. suit — to fit
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chip — for betting
  17. vault — a safe
  18. cold — not warm

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