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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: saw · race · chest · fall · pit · kid · last · wave

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. last — finally
  3. pit — in a race
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. chest — of your body
  6. last — final
  7. last — to go on
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. kid — child
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. race — humankind
  13. pit — a hole
  14. kid — to tease
  15. chest — a box
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pit — a fruit stone
  19. race — the arms race
  20. fall — to drop
  21. saw — the tool
  22. race — a contest
  23. fall — the season
  24. saw — the tool

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