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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: kid · fall · chest · lie · mark · snap · nail · tear

  1. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. snap — to click
  4. chest — of your body
  5. nail — for a hammer
  6. lie — to recline
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. kid — child
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. tear — from crying
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. kid — to tease
  13. mark — a grade
  14. tear — from crying
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. chest — a box
  20. mark — a trace
  21. fall — to drop
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. chest — of your body
  24. tear — to rip

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