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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. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. prune — to trim
  3. wind — moving air
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. race — humankind
  6. bulb — for light
  7. coach — pulled by horses
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. race — the arms race
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. wind — moving air
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. bulb — for light
  15. race — a contest
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. chip — to eat
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. prune — to trim
  22. chest — a box
  23. chip — for betting
  24. pitcher — a jug

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