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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 play ________________ in a jazz band.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  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. bass — the instrument
  2. chest — a box
  3. last — final
  4. charge — electricity
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bass — low music
  7. wind — moving air
  8. present — the time now
  9. bass — the fish
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. last — to go on
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. charge — a price
  14. charge — in control
  15. wind — moving air
  16. present — a gift
  17. last — finally
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. kid — child
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. kid — to tease
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. present — there
  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