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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's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  10. David sat on the ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. bound — certain
  3. game — a match
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. mine — an explosive
  6. cell — in biology
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. swing — to play on
  11. bound — tied together
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. toast — a drink to someone
  15. cell — a phone
  16. bound — obliged
  17. game — wild animals
  18. chest — a box
  19. swing — in golf
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. toast — the most admired
  23. swing — music
  24. toast — bread

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