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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — a weight
  3. kid — to tease
  4. chest — of your body
  5. band — a ring
  6. track — a song
  7. bark — a dog's sound
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. band — a music group
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. chest — a box
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. bark — to shout
  20. track — to keep track
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. kid — child
  23. track — a path
  24. sharp — clever

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