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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 had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  5. That was ________________ to happen.
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rest — what's left
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. chip — in a computer
  5. bound — certain
  6. degree — temperature
  7. degree — an amount
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bound — obliged
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. bound — tied together
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chest — a box
  15. kid — to tease
  16. degree — from a university
  17. chip — for betting
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. rest — a break
  20. chip — to eat
  21. wake — a trail
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. rest — what's left
  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