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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.

Make a worksheet

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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. 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. coach — pulled by horses
  3. spring — of water
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. wound — an injury
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. wound — an injury
  11. mine — for digging
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fine — all right
  15. spring — the season
  16. fine — high quality
  17. spring — a coil
  18. 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