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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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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: mine · kid · file · pitcher · club · hand · kick · lash

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  18. He is an ace ________________.
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. hand — help
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. file — a document
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. club — for golf
  9. file — a line of people
  10. club — for dancing
  11. kid — child
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. kick — in football
  17. mine — belonging to me
  18. pitcher — in baseball
  19. club — a group
  20. hand — in cards
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. file — a tool

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