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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: file · racket · bore · date · snap · mine · kick · land

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. land — to come down
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. land — a country
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. bore — to tire
  9. file — a line of people
  10. snap — to click
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. bore — to drill
  14. kick — in football
  15. land — ground
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. file — a document
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. file — a tool
  24. kick — with a leg

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