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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. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. David sat on the ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bark — to shout
  3. rush — hurry
  4. chest — of your body
  5. chest — a box
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. swing — to play on
  9. drill — the tool
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. drill — a practice
  12. present — the time now
  13. mug — a cup
  14. mug — a face
  15. clip — to cut
  16. present — a gift
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. swing — in golf
  19. mug — to rob
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. drill — army training
  22. swing — music
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. present — there

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