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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 120 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. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I'll be taking the ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. The ________________ market has crashed.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. band — a music group
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. tube — the underground
  6. chest — a box
  7. court — for sport
  8. bay — to keep at bay
  9. field — farmland
  10. bay — a part of the sea
  11. court — of law
  12. band — a ring
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. field — for sport
  15. wound — an injury
  16. stock — goods
  17. stock — shares
  18. court — of a king
  19. chest — of your body
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. field — a subject
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. tube — a container
  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