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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: branch · hand · foot · cell · chip · charge · drill · kid

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. drill — the tool
  3. charge — electricity
  4. branch — of a bank
  5. kid — to tease
  6. drill — army training
  7. branch — a division
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. chip — to eat
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. hand — in cards
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. chip — for betting
  14. drill — a practice
  15. foot — a measure
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. foot — the bottom
  18. kid — child
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. charge — in control
  22. charge — a price
  23. branch — of a tree
  24. cell — in biology

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