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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: straw · scale · chest · safe · file · cap · kid · stem

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. chest — of your body
  3. scale — size or range
  4. kid — child
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cap — a hat
  9. scale — in music
  10. cap — a lid
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. chest — a box
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. file — a document
  15. file — a tool
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. kid — to tease
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. cap — of ice
  21. chest — of your body
  22. safe — out of danger
  23. stem — to come from
  24. straw — a straw man

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