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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: chest · fine · file · clip · face · ground · chip · bound

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. ground — crushed
  3. chest — of your body
  4. ground — a position
  5. file — a line of people
  6. chip — for betting
  7. face — part of the head
  8. clip — for paper
  9. fine — high quality
  10. chip — in a computer
  11. bound — certain
  12. bound — tied together
  13. chip — to eat
  14. file — a document
  15. bound — obliged
  16. clip — to cut
  17. face — to confront
  18. face — to point toward
  19. ground — the earth
  20. fine — all right
  21. clip — a video
  22. chest — of your body
  23. chest — a box
  24. file — a tool

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