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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. club — for dancing
  3. key — the most important part
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — to drop
  6. kid — child
  7. chest — of your body
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. land — a country
  10. club — for golf
  11. row — to paddle
  12. key — in music
  13. key — for a lock
  14. kid — to tease
  15. chest — of your body
  16. squash — the sport
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. fall — the season
  19. squash — to crush
  20. land — to come down
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. row — a line
  23. land — ground
  24. club — a group

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