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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: file · kid · lash · face · chest · saw · hand · pop

  1. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. You don't need to ________________ round.
  7. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  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 — to tease
  2. chest — of your body
  3. face — part of the head
  4. chest — a box
  5. pop — soda
  6. pop — to visit
  7. face — to point toward
  8. file — a tool
  9. pop — music
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. hand — in cards
  12. file — a line of people
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. chest — of your body
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. saw — the tool
  17. face — to confront
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. hand — help
  20. file — a document
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. saw — the tool
  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