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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Have you settled on a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. file — a tool
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. file — a document
  5. band — a ring
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. stem — to come from
  8. hand — help
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. date — the fruit
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. kick — in football
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. band — a music group
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. hand — in cards
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. file — a line of people
  24. date — on the calendar

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