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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. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. chest — of your body
  3. club — a group
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. pound — a weight
  6. club — for dancing
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. tube — the underground
  9. tube — a container
  10. fall — to drop
  11. kid — to tease
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. pound — for dogs
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. club — for golf
  16. kid — child
  17. prune — to trim
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. chest — a box
  20. fall — the season
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. prune — to trim

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