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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. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. object — an aim
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. mouse — for a computer
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. spring — a coil
  12. scale — in music
  13. spring — of water
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. wound — an injury
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — to sink
  18. object — to protest
  19. scale — size or range
  20. object — a thing
  21. fork — in a road
  22. spring — the season
  23. chest — a box
  24. wound — an injury

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