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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: kid · rock · bear · pop · racket · field · snap · chest

  1. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  2. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. rock — to move gently
  2. bear — to put up with
  3. pop — soda
  4. chest — of your body
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. kid — child
  7. field — a subject
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bear — the animal
  10. field — farmland
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. rock — a stone
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. bear — the animal
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. chest — a box
  17. snap — to click
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. pop — music
  20. kid — to tease
  21. field — for sport
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. pop — to visit
  24. rock — music

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