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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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Word bank
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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: ball · file · chip · snap · chest · saw · wound · chair

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. He works in a ________________ mill.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. chip — to eat
  3. saw — the tool
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. chest — of your body
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. chest — of your body
  14. chair — a leader
  15. chest — a box
  16. snap — to click
  17. wound — an injury
  18. file — a tool
  19. ball — a dance
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. chip — in a computer
  22. chip — for betting
  23. wound — an injury
  24. saw — the tool

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