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

Word bank: chest · pound · toast · shower · kid · swing

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. toast — bread
  3. shower — to wash
  4. swing — music
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. pound — a weight
  8. kid — to tease
  9. toast — a drink to someone
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. chest — of your body
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. chest — of your body
  15. kid — child
  16. swing — in golf
  17. shower — rain
  18. swing — to play on

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