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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. She's very handy with a ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. last — final
  5. chest — a box
  6. last — to go on
  7. kid — child
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. track — a path
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. cold — an illness
  13. saw — the tool
  14. cold — not warm
  15. kid — to tease
  16. deal — to handle
  17. track — to keep track
  18. saw — the tool
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. chest — of your body
  21. deal — a big deal
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. last — finally
  24. track — a song

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