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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. We're on a ________________ here.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kick — in football
  3. drill — a practice
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. drill — the tool
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. staff — a stick
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. roll — a list
  11. cold — not warm
  12. chest — of your body
  13. roll — a cake
  14. staff — employees
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. cold — an illness
  17. chest — a box
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. staff — employees
  20. drill — army training
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. roll — on a roll
  23. kid — to tease
  24. kid — child

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