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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fine — all right
  3. kid — to tease
  4. fine — high quality
  5. degree — temperature
  6. degree — from a university
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. kid — child
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. bulb — for light
  13. bulb — for light
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. scale — in music
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. kick — in football
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — an amount
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. scale — size or range

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