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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: race · chip · file · kid · current · pitch

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  6. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  7. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. kid — child
  3. pitch — completely
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. chip — for betting
  6. current — happening now
  7. chip — in a computer
  8. file — a document
  9. file — a tool
  10. chip — to eat
  11. race — the arms race
  12. current — of water
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. current — electric
  15. file — a line of people
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. race — humankind
  18. race — a contest

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