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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: shower · kid · race · chip · kick · last · spell · branch

  1. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  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. race — humankind
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. chip — to eat
  4. kid — to tease
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. branch — a division
  8. race — a contest
  9. last — final
  10. last — finally
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. spell — letters
  13. spell — a short time
  14. last — to go on
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. race — the arms race
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. shower — to wash
  19. shower — rain
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. kid — child
  22. kick — in football
  23. spell — magic
  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