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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's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. The old man leaned on his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. staff — employees
  5. lie — to recline
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. kid — to tease
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. bass — low music
  18. kid — child
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. chest — a box
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. staff — employees
  23. bass — the fish
  24. staff — a stick

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