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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: nail · chip · cell · net · fall · land · pit · file

  1. He was locked up in a ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in a prison
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. pit — in a race
  4. chip — for betting
  5. file — a tool
  6. cell — in biology
  7. file — a document
  8. land — to come down
  9. net — after costs
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. pit — a hole
  12. fall — to drop
  13. land — a country
  14. cell — a phone
  15. land — ground
  16. net — in sport
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. file — a line of people
  21. net — for catching
  22. fall — the season
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. chip — to eat

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