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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: kid · bat · pit · craft · file · straw · lean · chip

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. lean — to rest against
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. pit — in a race
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. craft — a skill
  8. kid — child
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. kid — to tease
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. file — a document
  14. chip — for betting
  15. file — a tool
  16. lean — thin
  17. file — a line of people
  18. pit — a hole
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. bat — the animal
  21. lean — to bend
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. craft — boats

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