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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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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: chest · bear · key · straw · kid · date · track · march

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  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 — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. straw — to clutch at straws
  4. kid — to tease
  5. track — a path
  6. bear — the animal
  7. bear — the animal
  8. key — the most important part
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. chest — of your body
  11. key — in music
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. march — the month
  14. track — to keep track
  15. key — for a lock
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. track — a song
  18. chest — of your body
  19. date — the fruit
  20. march — music
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — a box
  23. straw — dry grass
  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