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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: deal · mine · clip · saw · chair · bark · key · chip

  1. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. He works in a ________________ mill.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. bark — of a tree
  3. chip — for betting
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. key — for a lock
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chip — to eat
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. key — in music
  15. bark — to shout
  16. key — the most important part
  17. chair — a leader
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. clip — a video
  20. deal — to handle
  21. saw — the tool
  22. saw — the tool
  23. mine — for digging
  24. chair — to sit on

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