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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 took cover from the thunder ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. The ________________ took off on time.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  23. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. shower — rain
  3. plane — a tool
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. clip — a video
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. plane — an aircraft
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. pass — to spend time
  12. club — for golf
  13. chest — a box
  14. sharp — clever
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. chest — of your body
  17. club — for dancing
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. shower — to wash
  20. club — a group
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. leaves — to go away
  23. pass — a permit
  24. leaves — of a tree

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