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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: sharp · craft · cell · chest · wind · clip · chip · lie

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  9. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. chest — of your body
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. cell — a phone
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. craft — a handicraft
  7. chest — a box
  8. craft — boats
  9. wind — moving air
  10. craft — a skill
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. clip — to cut
  13. lie — to recline
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wind — moving air
  16. sharp — clever
  17. clip — a video
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chip — for betting

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