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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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Where did you ________________ them?
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. kid — child
  3. kid — to tease
  4. chest — a box
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. file — a tool
  7. mug — to rob
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cold — an illness
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. file — a line of people
  12. pound — a weight
  13. file — a document
  14. mug — a cup
  15. mug — a face
  16. cold — not warm
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. pound — for dogs
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. chest — of your body
  24. mouse — the animal

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