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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: date · toast · bat · chest · kid · pound · mug · hide

  1. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. kid — child
  5. mug — a face
  6. mug — a cup
  7. kid — to tease
  8. chest — of your body
  9. toast — bread
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. pound — a weight
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. toast — a drink to someone
  19. mug — to rob
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. date — the fruit
  24. chest — of your body

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