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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 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. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. tube — the underground
  3. drill — the tool
  4. tube — a container
  5. chest — of your body
  6. stock — goods
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. spring — the season
  9. spring — of water
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. stock — shares
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. mouse — for a computer
  18. branch — a division
  19. chest — a box
  20. drill — army training
  21. branch — of a bank
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. drill — a practice
  24. spring — a coil

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