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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: chest · kick · key · mine · perch · press · kid · charge

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. The tickets are free of ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. This piece is in a major ________________.
  13. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  16. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chest — of your body
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. charge — a price
  6. kid — to tease
  7. charge — electricity
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. mine — belonging to me
  10. press — to push
  11. kid — child
  12. key — in music
  13. charge — in control
  14. chest — of your body
  15. press — a publisher
  16. key — the most important part
  17. press — newspapers
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. chest — a box
  20. key — for a lock
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. kick — in football
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. perch — the fish

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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