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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. What do you think of the new ________________?
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. Tom got himself in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. roll — a list
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rest — a break
  5. spring — a coil
  6. roll — a cake
  7. chest — a box
  8. pop — soda
  9. jam — in traffic
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. pop — music
  13. spring — the season
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. rest — what's left
  16. pop — to visit
  17. cabinet — ministers
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. rest — what's left
  20. chest — of your body
  21. spring — of water
  22. cabinet — a cupboard
  23. kid — to tease
  24. jam — a tight spot

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