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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  13. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. wind — moving air
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. root — of a word
  6. cold — an illness
  7. cold — not warm
  8. chest — of your body
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. root — of a plant
  12. racket — a loud noise
  13. bear — to put up with
  14. wind — moving air
  15. track — a path
  16. root — the cause
  17. bear — the animal
  18. chest — a box
  19. track — to keep track
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. track — a song
  22. content — the amount
  23. bear — the animal
  24. content — happy

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