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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 120 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.

Make a worksheet

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: clip · content · racket · mine · saw · cue · chest · chair

  1. She's very handy with a ________________.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  4. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. cue — a hint
  4. saw — past of 'see'
  5. content — happy
  6. cue — a signal
  7. chest — a box
  8. cue — for pool
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. mine — for digging
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. saw — the tool
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. clip — to cut
  20. chest — of your body
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. content — the amount
  24. chair — a leader

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