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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 116 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: firm · cold · cell · saw · kick · last · kid · chip

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. 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. last — to go on
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. saw — the tool
  4. last — final
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. firm — a company
  7. firm — decided
  8. chip — for betting
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kick — in football
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. cold — an illness
  13. chip — to eat
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. saw — the tool
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. firm — steady
  20. last — finally
  21. kid — child
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cold — not warm
  24. 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