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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. chest — of your body
  3. file — a tool
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. toast — bread
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. toast — the most admired
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. last — finally
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. chest — a box
  14. content — the amount
  15. content — happy
  16. land — ground
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. land — a country
  19. hide — animal skin
  20. last — to go on
  21. last — final
  22. chest — of your body
  23. land — to come down
  24. bass — low music

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