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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: chip · row · kick · spell · clip · key · chest · firm

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. This piece is in a major ________________.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. chip — to eat
  3. key — in music
  4. spell — a short time
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — to cut
  7. chest — a box
  8. spell — magic
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. kick — in football
  11. key — for a lock
  12. firm — steady
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. row — a line
  17. firm — a company
  18. chip — for betting
  19. spell — letters
  20. chest — of your body
  21. clip — a video
  22. row — to paddle
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. key — the most important part

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