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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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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: kid · file · spring · wave · chip · row · drill · cell

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  17. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  24. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. chip — for betting
  3. cell — a phone
  4. file — a tool
  5. row — to paddle
  6. spring — the season
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. kid — to tease
  9. drill — a practice
  10. chip — to eat
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. kid — child
  13. spring — of water
  14. row — a line
  15. file — a line of people
  16. wave — of the sea
  17. drill — the tool
  18. cell — in biology
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. spring — a coil
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. file — a document
  23. drill — army training
  24. wave — a sudden rise

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