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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. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  20. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. What do you think of the new ________________?
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wound — past of 'wind'
  5. cold — an illness
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — not warm
  9. chair — a leader
  10. wound — an injury
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. chest — a box
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. cabinet — a cupboard
  15. pitch — completely
  16. scale — in music
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. scale — size or range
  19. chair — a professorship
  20. chair — to sit on
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. cabinet — ministers
  24. cold — the Cold War

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