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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: chip · roll · cell · rule · land · bore · clip · fall

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. clip — for paper
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. roll — a list
  6. cell — in biology
  7. land — ground
  8. rule — government
  9. land — to come down
  10. land — a country
  11. rule — to rule out
  12. fall — the season
  13. fall — to drop
  14. chip — to eat
  15. fall — to drop
  16. chip — for betting
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. roll — a cake
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. bore — to tire
  22. rule — a law
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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