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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: tear · file · mine · snap · chip · rash · cap · pit

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. tear — to rip
  3. cap — of ice
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cap — a hat
  7. tear — from crying
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. mine — for digging
  11. cap — a lid
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. pit — a hole
  16. file — a tool
  17. file — a document
  18. pit — in a race
  19. file — a line of people
  20. rash — a series
  21. snap — to click
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. mine — belonging to me
  24. chip — for betting

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