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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. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — army training
  2. kid — to tease
  3. chest — of your body
  4. hand — in cards
  5. drill — the tool
  6. fine — high quality
  7. stock — shares
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. kid — child
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. fine — all right
  12. chest — a box
  13. net — in sport
  14. hand — help
  15. track — to keep track
  16. net — for catching
  17. net — after costs
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. drill — a practice
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. stock — goods
  22. track — a song
  23. chest — of your body
  24. track — a path

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