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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: hand · mine · current · clip · race · cell · foot · chest

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. current — of water
  3. foot — a measure
  4. hand — in cards
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hand — help
  9. clip — for paper
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. clip — to cut
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. cell — a phone
  15. current — electric
  16. current — happening now
  17. cell — in biology
  18. race — humankind
  19. race — the arms race
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. race — a contest
  22. chest — a box
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mine — for digging

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