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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: chip · bat · net · kick · chest · stem · cue · shower

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stem — of a plant
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. shower — to wash
  6. stem — to come from
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. kick — in football
  10. cue — for pool
  11. chip — to eat
  12. chest — a box
  13. net — for catching
  14. cue — a signal
  15. net — after costs
  16. cue — a hint
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. bat — the animal
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. chest — of your body
  22. net — in sport
  23. chip — for betting
  24. shower — rain

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