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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  5. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  11. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. fine — all right
  3. tube — the underground
  4. swing — music
  5. lean — to bend
  6. lean — thin
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. chest — a box
  10. fine — high quality
  11. lean — to rest against
  12. swing — in golf
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. swing — to play on
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. perch — the fish
  19. tube — a container
  20. mine — for digging
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. chest — of your body

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