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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 120 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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  10. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  11. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. chest — of your body
  3. root — the cause
  4. kid — child
  5. fall — the season
  6. chest — a box
  7. fall — to drop
  8. fall — to drop
  9. cue — for pool
  10. cue — a signal
  11. root — of a word
  12. degree — temperature
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. cue — a hint
  15. root — of a plant
  16. degree — an amount
  17. present — a gift
  18. present — the time now
  19. wax — in the ear
  20. present — there
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. wax — to grow
  23. chest — of your body
  24. degree — from a university

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