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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: chip · bark · rest · wound · wake · date · chest · snap

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. chip — in a computer
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chip — to eat
  5. wound — an injury
  6. wake — to stop sleeping
  7. snap — to click
  8. wound — an injury
  9. rest — a break
  10. chest — a box
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. rest — what's left
  13. chip — for betting
  14. chest — of your body
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. wake — a trail
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. rest — what's left
  19. bark — to shout
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. bark — a dog's sound
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. date — the fruit

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