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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 · kick · wound · kid · file · arm · capital · rest

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. capital — money
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rest — what's left
  8. wound — an injury
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. chip — to eat
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. rest — what's left
  14. kid — child
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a document
  17. rest — a break
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. kid — to tease
  20. capital — a city
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. kick — in football
  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