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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. kid — to tease
  4. pop — music
  5. hand — in cards
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. prune — to trim
  8. chest — of your body
  9. tube — a container
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. kid — child
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. chest — a box
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. hand — help
  19. tube — the underground
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. pop — to visit
  22. chest — of your body
  23. prune — to trim
  24. temple — side of the head

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