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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  2. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a line of people
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. mate — to breed
  4. swing — to play on
  5. mate — a partner
  6. chest — of your body
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. last — final
  10. fall — to drop
  11. stick — a piece of wood
  12. last — finally
  13. fall — to drop
  14. kid — to tease
  15. file — a tool
  16. fall — the season
  17. swing — music
  18. stick — to attach or keep to
  19. file — a document
  20. swing — in golf
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mate — a friend
  23. last — to go on
  24. chest — a box

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