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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: mine · jam · clip · drill · foot · arm · cell · chip

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. drill — army training
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. chip — to eat
  6. drill — a practice
  7. foot — a measure
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. chip — for betting
  12. foot — part of the body
  13. clip — for paper
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. jam — in traffic
  17. drill — the tool
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. clip — to cut
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. cell — in biology
  24. clip — a video

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