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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · saw · wax · chip · plane · game · net · chest

  1. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. chest — of your body
  4. game — wild animals
  5. chip — to eat
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. clip — to cut
  9. net — for catching
  10. net — after costs
  11. chip — for betting
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. plane — a tool
  14. wax — for sculpting
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. wax — to grow
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. net — in sport
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. plane — in geometry

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