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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: pitcher · kick · file · land · snap · fork · tube · row

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. tube — the underground
  3. land — a country
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. fork — in a road
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. row — a line
  9. land — to come down
  10. file — a line of people
  11. file — a document
  12. file — a tool
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. tube — a container
  15. row — to paddle
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. kick — in football
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. snap — to click
  24. land — ground

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