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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: pit · perch · mug · file · straw · chest · track · kid

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. mug — a face
  3. file — a document
  4. file — a line of people
  5. chest — a box
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. chest — of your body
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. kid — child
  11. track — a path
  12. pit — in a race
  13. pit — a hole
  14. track — a song
  15. mug — a cup
  16. perch — the fish
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. track — to keep track
  19. file — a tool
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mug — to rob
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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