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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: hand · wound · chest · wind · charge · mug · kid · rock

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rock — music
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. charge — a price
  7. mug — a face
  8. mug — a cup
  9. hand — help
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — to tease
  14. wind — moving air
  15. chest — a box
  16. hand — in cards
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wound — an injury
  21. charge — electricity
  22. rock — a stone
  23. mug — to rob
  24. charge — in control

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