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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — in music
  4. season — in sport
  5. season — of the year
  6. game — a match
  7. bound — obliged
  8. chest — of your body
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. bound — certain
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bass — low music
  13. bound — tied together
  14. chest — a box
  15. game — wild animals
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. bass — the fish
  23. spring — of water
  24. nail — for a hammer

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