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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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Word bank
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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. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. mate — a friend
  5. file — a line of people
  6. file — a document
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. scale — in music
  9. chest — of your body
  10. file — a tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. mate — a partner
  14. racket — a loud noise
  15. mate — to breed
  16. scale — size or range
  17. chest — a box
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. kid — to tease
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. kid — child
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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