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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. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. present — the time now
  8. present — a gift
  9. chest — of your body
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — to sink
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. spell — letters
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. present — there
  16. chest — a box
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. kid — to tease
  19. tear — to rip
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. spell — magic
  22. spell — a short time
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. kid — child

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