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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: coach · track · straw · hide · chest · kid · temple · date

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  9. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. track — to keep track
  7. chest — of your body
  8. track — a path
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. kid — to tease
  11. chest — a box
  12. track — a song
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. kid — child
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. coach — pulled by horses
  19. date — the fruit
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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