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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: hide · cue · chair · cell · clip · lash · fork · row

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. cell — a phone
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cue — a hint
  8. cue — for pool
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. chair — a leader
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. cue — a signal
  13. row — a line
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. clip — for paper
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. clip — a video
  18. cell — in biology
  19. fork — in a road
  20. clip — to cut
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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