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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  21. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. There's no middle ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. chest — of your body
  8. deal — to handle
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. deal — a big deal
  13. ground — crushed
  14. content — happy
  15. band — a music group
  16. band — a ring
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. chest — a box
  20. ground — the earth
  21. mate — a friend
  22. content — the amount
  23. mate — to breed
  24. ground — a position

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