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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: fall · kid · calf · game · chest · bat · cabinet · lash

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  17. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. game — a match
  4. fall — to drop
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. chest — of your body
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — child
  11. fall — to drop
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. game — wild animals
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cabinet — a cupboard
  17. fall — the season
  18. chest — a box
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. chest — of your body
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. lash — an eyelash

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