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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: key · cabinet · object · chest · tear · kid · bat · fork

  1. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. tear — to rip
  3. chest — of your body
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. key — the most important part
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bat — the animal
  9. object — to protest
  10. fork — in a road
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. chest — of your body
  14. key — in music
  15. tear — from crying
  16. chest — a box
  17. tear — from crying
  18. key — for a lock
  19. object — a thing
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. object — an aim
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. kid — to tease
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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