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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. degree — an amount
  6. ground — crushed
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. rash — a series
  10. degree — from a university
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. rash — hasty
  14. coach — a trainer
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. ground — a position
  18. kid — to tease
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — temperature
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. ground — the earth

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