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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 120 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: kick · cold · temple · hand · rash · chip · file · race

  1. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — in football
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. file — a tool
  4. hand — in cards
  5. race — humankind
  6. chip — to eat
  7. rash — a series
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. race — the arms race
  10. cold — not warm
  11. hand — help
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. file — a document
  17. cold — an illness
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. race — a contest
  20. rash — hasty
  21. file — a line of people
  22. chip — for betting
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — on the skin

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