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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: temple · kid · chip · drill · clip · craft · hand · ground

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. ground — a position
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. chip — for betting
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. kid — to tease
  9. clip — for paper
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. drill — army training
  12. drill — the tool
  13. drill — a practice
  14. chip — to eat
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. craft — boats
  19. hand — help
  20. ground — the earth
  21. ground — crushed
  22. craft — a skill
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. temple — a place of worship

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