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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: chest · object · rock · bay · wound · date · kick · row

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  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. kick — a thrill
  2. object — to protest
  3. wound — an injury
  4. date — on the calendar
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. date — the fruit
  7. kick — in football
  8. row — to paddle
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. chest — a box
  12. rock — a stone
  13. wound — an injury
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. row — a line
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. object — an aim
  18. object — a thing
  19. rock — music
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. chest — of your body
  23. bay — a horse colour
  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