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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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468
Word bank
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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: mark · hand · file · mine · bat · bulb · snap · kid

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The light ________________ burned out.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I've got to change the light ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mine — for digging
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. file — a document
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. hand — help
  7. kid — to tease
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mark — a trace
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. file — a line of people
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bat — the animal
  14. kid — child
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. mark — a grade
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. file — a tool
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. bulb — for light
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bulb — for light

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