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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: chip · degree · kid · plane · chest · stick · tear · ball

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. stick — a piece of wood
  3. kid — child
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chest — of your body
  6. degree — an amount
  7. ball — a great time
  8. plane — a tool
  9. tear — to rip
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. chest — a box
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. tear — from crying
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. degree — temperature
  17. stick — to attach or keep to
  18. ball — a dance
  19. chip — for betting
  20. degree — from a university
  21. kid — to tease
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. chip — to eat
  24. chest — of your body

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