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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've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  15. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. deal — a big deal
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. kid — child
  6. fork — to eat with
  7. hand — in cards
  8. deal — to handle
  9. hand — help
  10. chest — of your body
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. drill — army training
  13. row — a line
  14. bass — the instrument
  15. bass — low music
  16. drill — a practice
  17. bass — the fish
  18. fork — in a road
  19. kid — to tease
  20. chest — a box
  21. row — to paddle
  22. drill — the tool
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. row — a quarrel

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