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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. When will it ________________ you to start?
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. court — for sport
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. shower — to wash
  7. suit — clothes
  8. kid — to tease
  9. fine — a penalty
  10. spring — of water
  11. suit — in cards
  12. chest — a box
  13. fine — all right
  14. fine — high quality
  15. suit — to fit
  16. wind — moving air
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. spring — the season
  20. kid — child
  21. court — of law
  22. court — of a king
  23. wind — moving air
  24. spring — a coil

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