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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've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  19. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. cell — in biology
  3. kid — to tease
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bass — low music
  7. chest — a box
  8. file — a line of people
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bass — the instrument
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. rash — a series
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. nail — on a finger
  15. chest — of your body
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. file — a document
  19. bass — the fish
  20. file — a tool
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. rash — hasty
  23. cell — a phone
  24. kid — child

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