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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cold — an illness
  3. row — a line
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. craft — boats
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. kid — to tease
  9. net — in sport
  10. net — after costs
  11. craft — a skill
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. chest — of your body
  14. net — for catching
  15. kid — child
  16. craft — a handicraft
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. row — to paddle
  19. chest — a box
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. cold — not warm
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. calf — a young animal

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