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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. clip — to cut
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. pit — a hole
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. staff — employees
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. pit — in a race
  10. clip — for paper
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. chest — a box
  13. mine — for digging
  14. chest — of your body
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. hide — to keep secret
  18. clip — a video
  19. present — the time now
  20. present — a gift
  21. present — there
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. hide — animal skin

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