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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  17. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The tickets are free of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. roll — a cake
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. land — to come down
  5. chest — of your body
  6. can — to be able to
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. land — a country
  9. can — a tin
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. dip — to sink
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. land — ground
  15. chest — a box
  16. roll — a list
  17. charge — electricity
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. can — a tin
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. charge — in control
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. charge — a price

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