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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. cap — of ice
  6. cap — a hat
  7. tear — to rip
  8. chest — a box
  9. kid — child
  10. jam — in traffic
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. tear — from crying
  13. rush — hurry
  14. jam — a tight spot
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. tear — from crying
  17. cap — a lid
  18. rush — a thrill

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