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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: kick · chest · game · snap · mark · stem · file · date

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. file — a tool
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. file — a document
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. date — the fruit
  8. chest — a box
  9. game — wild animals
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. stem — of a plant
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kick — in football
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. mark — a grade
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. snap — to click
  19. stem — to come from
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. chest — of your body
  22. game — a match
  23. mark — a trace
  24. file — a line of people

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