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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 116 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: hand · kick · staff · snap · file · root · rest · cold

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. rest — what's left
  3. hand — help
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. cold — an illness
  6. root — the cause
  7. root — of a plant
  8. file — a tool
  9. root — of a word
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hand — in cards
  13. staff — employees
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. cold — not warm
  16. snap — to click
  17. file — a line of people
  18. kick — in football
  19. file — a document
  20. rest — a break
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. rest — what's left
  23. staff — employees
  24. staff — a stick

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