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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  16. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  17. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  18. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. My mare is ________________ in color.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. shower — to wash
  3. clip — to cut
  4. shower — rain
  5. bay — a part of the sea
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. tube — a container
  8. march — the month
  9. chest — a box
  10. tube — the underground
  11. march — the month
  12. clip — for paper
  13. row — to paddle
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. bay — to keep at bay
  16. march — music
  17. track — to keep track
  18. track — a song
  19. clip — a video
  20. row — a line
  21. track — a path
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. bay — a horse colour
  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