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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: tear · mate · arm · kid · chest · drill

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. My father caught me by the ________________.
  16. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mate — a partner
  3. chest — a box
  4. tear — from crying
  5. mate — to breed
  6. tear — to rip
  7. kid — child
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. drill — army training
  10. drill — the tool
  11. chest — of your body
  12. mate — a friend
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. tear — from crying
  15. arm — part of the body
  16. drill — a practice
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. chest — of your body

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