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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. key — the most important part
  4. chest — of your body
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. leaves — lets stay
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. key — for a lock
  10. kid — to tease
  11. leaves — to go away
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. snap — to click
  14. mine — for digging
  15. drill — the tool
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. drill — a practice
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. chest — a box
  21. chest — of your body
  22. key — in music
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. drill — army training

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