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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: scale · straw · chest · pit · stock · kid · cabinet · cell

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. What do you think of the new ________________?
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. kid — to tease
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. scale — size or range
  8. chest — of your body
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. stock — shares
  12. scale — in music
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. pit — in a race
  16. pit — a hole
  17. chest — a box
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. stock — goods
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cell — a phone

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