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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. mark — a grade
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. scale — for weighing
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. wind — moving air
  7. fall — the season
  8. mark — a trace
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. kid — to tease
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. scale — size or range
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. chest — of your body
  16. fall — to drop
  17. scale — in music
  18. fall — to drop
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. chest — a box
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. wind — moving air
  23. chest — of your body
  24. racket — for tennis

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