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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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. You don't need to ________________ round.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. pop — soda
  3. chest — of your body
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. hand — in cards
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. hand — help
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. pop — music
  12. sharp — clever
  13. chest — a box
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. net — after costs
  16. chest — of your body
  17. ground — a position
  18. hide — animal skin
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. ground — crushed
  21. pop — to visit
  22. ground — the earth
  23. net — for catching
  24. net — in sport

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