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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 120 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: stick · chest · coach · row · kid · rule · cell · snap

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. kid — child
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. row — a line
  6. cell — in biology
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. rule — a law
  9. snap — to click
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. stick — to attach or keep to
  13. row — to paddle
  14. cell — a phone
  15. chest — a box
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. chest — of your body
  18. chest — of your body
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. rule — government
  21. rule — to rule out
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. kid — to tease
  24. coach — a trainer

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