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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. You don't need to ________________ round.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. kid — to tease
  4. tear — to rip
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. tear — from crying
  8. kid — child
  9. hand — help
  10. tear — from crying
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mug — a cup
  14. pop — to visit
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mug — to rob
  17. craft — boats
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. pop — soda
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pop — music
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. craft — a skill

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