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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. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. bound — tied together
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. cell — in biology
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bound — obliged
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. cell — a phone
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. scale — size or range
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. shower — rain
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. bound — certain
  20. rush — hurry
  21. chest — a box
  22. vault — a safe
  23. scale — in music
  24. vault — an arched ceiling

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