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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. degree — from a university
  4. degree — temperature
  5. court — of law
  6. shower — to wash
  7. chest — a box
  8. wound — an injury
  9. degree — an amount
  10. court — of a king
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. shower — rain
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. bore — to drill
  16. fork — in a road
  17. chest — of your body
  18. court — for sport
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. bore — to tire
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. wound — an injury
  24. fork — to eat with

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