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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: date · cell · march · chip · hand · kid · file · craft

  1. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  17. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Have you settled on a ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. date — the fruit
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. file — a line of people
  6. cell — in biology
  7. march — the month
  8. craft — a skill
  9. march — music
  10. craft — boats
  11. cell — a phone
  12. chip — for betting
  13. chip — to eat
  14. file — a document
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. hand — help
  17. craft — a handicraft
  18. file — a tool
  19. kid — child
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. kid — to tease
  23. march — the month
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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