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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. chest — a box
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. kid — to tease
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. race — the arms race
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. wind — moving air
  13. race — a contest
  14. kid — child
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bat — the animal
  20. race — humankind
  21. rest — what's left
  22. wind — moving air
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. rest — a break

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