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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: lash · bat · chest · foot · wind · kid · bound · game

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bound — tied together
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — a box
  7. bound — obliged
  8. kid — to tease
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. foot — a measure
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. game — wild animals
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. kid — child
  17. bound — certain
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. chest — of your body
  20. wind — moving air
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wind — moving air
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — the animal

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