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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. My mare is ________________ in color.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. tear — from crying
  4. swing — to play on
  5. kid — child
  6. bay — a horse colour
  7. chest — of your body
  8. swing — music
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. cold — not warm
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — to rip
  14. chest — a box
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. stand — for spectators
  20. swing — in golf
  21. stand — to bear
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. stand — on your feet
  24. chest — of your body

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