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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  20. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. hand — help
  4. bass — low music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. chest — a box
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. hand — in cards
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. kid — child
  17. chest — of your body
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. kid — to tease
  20. kick — a thrill
  21. kick — in football
  22. bass — the fish
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. stem — to come from

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