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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. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. tube — in a tire
  3. chest — of your body
  4. current — happening now
  5. bore — to tire
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. current — of water
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. kid — child
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. kid — to tease
  13. tube — the underground
  14. chest — a box
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. bore — to drill
  19. sharp — clever
  20. date — the fruit
  21. current — electric
  22. tube — a container
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. mine — for digging

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