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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: bowl · patient · cell · drill · chip · tube · chest · season

  1. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  22. Did you ________________ the meat?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — in a computer
  2. tube — the underground
  3. tube — a container
  4. bowl — a football final
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chest — of your body
  7. season — in sport
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. cell — a phone
  10. chip — for betting
  11. drill — army training
  12. cell — in biology
  13. bowl — to roll
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. chest — of your body
  17. drill — a practice
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. patient — calm and waiting
  20. season — of the year
  21. drill — the tool
  22. season — to add flavour
  23. chest — a box
  24. chip — to eat

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