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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I'll be taking the ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  23. Have you met the new head ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. swing — to play on
  3. rest — what's left
  4. rest — a break
  5. clip — a video
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. tube — the underground
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. chest — of your body
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. rest — what's left
  13. swing — in golf
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. tube — a container
  16. wound — an injury
  17. swing — music
  18. wound — an injury
  19. coach — pulled by horses
  20. chest — a box
  21. clip — to cut
  22. rush — hurry
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. clip — for paper

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