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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 120 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: chair · arm · kid · mouse · bowl · clip · chip · pit

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. clip — for paper
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pit — a hole
  5. pit — in a race
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. chair — a leader
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. kid — child
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. chip — for betting
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. clip — to cut
  23. clip — a video
  24. mouse — the animal

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