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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 120 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: swing · racket · wound · chest · mine · kid · squash · face

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. swing — to play on
  6. swing — music
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. face — to point toward
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. face — to confront
  11. squash — to crush
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. wound — an injury
  14. face — part of the head
  15. kid — to tease
  16. mine — for digging
  17. squash — the sport
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. kid — child
  20. wound — an injury
  21. swing — in golf
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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