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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. capital — a city
  3. net — after costs
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. net — for catching
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. plane — a tool
  8. lean — to bend
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. rush — hurry
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. rock — music
  13. rock — a stone
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. chest — a box
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. rush — to hurry
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. lean — thin
  20. chest — of your body
  21. capital — money
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. net — in sport

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