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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. At ________________, we arrived at the village.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. degree — temperature
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. degree — from a university
  8. chest — a box
  9. shower — to wash
  10. wake — before a funeral
  11. last — final
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. kid — child
  14. last — to go on
  15. kid — to tease
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. ground — the earth
  18. shower — rain
  19. wake — a trail
  20. ground — a position
  21. ground — crushed
  22. degree — an amount
  23. chest — of your body
  24. last — finally

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