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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 room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. We're almost out of ________________.
  19. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pitch — completely
  3. clip — a video
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. rule — a law
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. lie — to recline
  9. pop — music
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. stem — to come from
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. clip — for paper
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. chest — a box
  17. clip — to cut
  18. pop — soda
  19. pitch — a sports field
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. rule — government
  24. pop — to visit

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