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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: season · clip · row · cell · club · vault · chip · bat

  1. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  20. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. chip — to eat
  3. cell — a phone
  4. club — a group
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. chip — for betting
  7. row — to paddle
  8. club — for dancing
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. club — for golf
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. clip — a video
  15. season — of the year
  16. bat — the animal
  17. row — a line
  18. clip — for paper
  19. vault — a safe
  20. vault — an arched ceiling
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cell — in biology
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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