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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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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: net · fork · chest · bear · game · file · march · kick

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  20. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. file — a tool
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bear — the animal
  5. net — in sport
  6. file — a line of people
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. game — wild animals
  10. march — music
  11. bear — the animal
  12. march — the month
  13. fork — in a road
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. net — after costs
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. game — a match
  18. net — for catching
  19. bear — to put up with
  20. kick — in football
  21. march — the month
  22. file — a document
  23. chest — a box
  24. fork — to eat with

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