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

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. march — the month
  6. kick — in football
  7. cell — in biology
  8. march — the month
  9. march — music
  10. chest — a box
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bore — to tire
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. bore — to drill
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison

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