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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. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  18. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. hide — to keep secret
  3. clip — a video
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. clip — to cut
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. clip — for paper
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. bark — to shout
  10. stock — goods
  11. stock — a soup base
  12. snap — to click
  13. scale — in music
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. perch — for a bird
  18. bark — a dog's sound
  19. perch — the fish
  20. scale — size or range
  21. stock — shares
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. chest — a box
  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