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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: band · file · chest · chip · rule · bat · deal · kid

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. chest — a box
  4. rule — government
  5. bat — the animal
  6. chest — of your body
  7. file — a document
  8. deal — to handle
  9. band — a music group
  10. file — a line of people
  11. rule — a law
  12. kid — to tease
  13. chip — to eat
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. file — a tool
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. kid — child
  19. band — a ring
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. deal — an agreement
  24. chest — of your body

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