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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. What do you think of the new ________________?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kid — to tease
  4. saw — the tool
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. hand — in cards
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. object — an aim
  9. object — to protest
  10. kid — child
  11. track — a song
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. court — of a king
  14. chest — a box
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. chest — of your body
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. track — a path
  19. hand — help
  20. object — a thing
  21. saw — the tool
  22. court — for sport
  23. court — of law
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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