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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  17. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. row — a line
  3. wave — with your hand
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. craft — a skill
  6. chair — a professorship
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. craft — boats
  11. tube — a container
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. row — to paddle
  16. branch — of a bank
  17. branch — of a tree
  18. branch — a division
  19. chair — a leader
  20. kid — child
  21. chest — of your body
  22. chest — a box
  23. kid — to tease
  24. tube — the underground

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