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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 116 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: clip · ball · cell · squash · chair · race · hide · staff

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  18. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. staff — employees
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. ball — a dance
  6. hide — animal skin
  7. race — the arms race
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. ball — a round shape
  10. squash — the sport
  11. race — a contest
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cell — in biology
  15. squash — to crush
  16. clip — to cut
  17. staff — a stick
  18. chair — a leader
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — a video
  21. staff — employees
  22. ball — a great time
  23. race — humankind
  24. cell — a phone

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