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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. The ________________ went through the wall.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. kid — to tease
  7. hand — help
  8. net — after costs
  9. chest — of your body
  10. band — a ring
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. kid — child
  14. perch — the fish
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. hand — in cards
  17. chest — a box
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. band — a music group
  21. net — in sport
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. chest — of your body
  24. net — for catching

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