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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: wound · chip · kid · row · shower · file · vault · firm

  1. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — for betting
  2. row — a line
  3. firm — a company
  4. file — a line of people
  5. wound — an injury
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — to paddle
  8. chip — to eat
  9. firm — steady
  10. file — a tool
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. vault — a safe
  13. shower — to wash
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. wound — an injury
  17. firm — decided
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. file — a document
  20. kid — to tease
  21. kid — child
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. shower — rain
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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