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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The light ________________ burned out.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. scale — in music
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. hand — in cards
  6. prune — to trim
  7. race — the arms race
  8. bulb — of a plant
  9. scale — size or range
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. hand — help
  12. chest — of your body
  13. race — a contest
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. race — humankind
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. cabinet — a cupboard
  18. pass — a permit
  19. bulb — for light
  20. chest — a box
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bulb — for light
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. scale — for weighing

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