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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 120 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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. kid — to tease
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. net — for catching
  9. staff — employees
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. mine — for digging
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. chest — a box
  14. net — in sport
  15. chest — of your body
  16. staff — a stick
  17. wound — an injury
  18. rule — government
  19. net — after costs
  20. rule — a law
  21. staff — employees
  22. kid — child
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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