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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 120 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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. chest — of your body
  4. current — happening now
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. rest — a break
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kid — child
  9. current — electric
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. capital — money
  12. rest — what's left
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. capital — a city
  15. current — of water
  16. rest — what's left
  17. kid — to tease
  18. coach — a trainer

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