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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. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  8. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kick — in football
  3. wind — moving air
  4. land — a country
  5. chest — of your body
  6. land — ground
  7. lie — to recline
  8. face — to confront
  9. face — to point toward
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. face — part of the head
  13. wind — moving air
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. ground — the earth
  17. rash — a series
  18. land — to come down
  19. ground — crushed
  20. ground — a position
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. rash — hasty
  24. chest — a box

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