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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. chest — a box
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. chest — of your body
  7. spring — a coil
  8. leaves — lets stay
  9. race — humankind
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. race — the arms race
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. spring — of water
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. race — a contest
  23. kid — child
  24. spring — the season

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