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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  21. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. spring — the season
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. spring — a coil
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — in biology
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. spring — of water
  10. mine — for digging
  11. net — for catching
  12. ruler — a monarch
  13. kick — in football
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. chest — a box
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. kick — a thrill
  22. net — in sport
  23. net — after costs
  24. cell — a phone

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