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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. 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. kid — to tease
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. temple — a place of worship
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. tear — from crying
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. chest — of your body
  15. chest — a box
  16. mine — for digging
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. tear — to rip
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — child
  24. 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