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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 · lash · prune · chest · nail · field · arm · ground

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. prune — to trim
  4. kid — to tease
  5. prune — to trim
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. field — a subject
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. ground — the earth
  12. field — for sport
  13. chest — a box
  14. ground — crushed
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kid — child
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. field — farmland
  22. ground — a position
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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