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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  10. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. club — for dancing
  4. rule — government
  5. chest — of your body
  6. face — to point toward
  7. club — a group
  8. chest — a box
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. branch — of a bank
  11. branch — a division
  12. club — for golf
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. sharp — clever
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. face — to confront
  18. rule — a law
  19. ball — a dance
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. face — part of the head
  22. branch — of a tree
  23. ball — a great time
  24. nail — on a finger

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