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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. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  5. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. Have you settled on a ________________?
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. ground — the earth
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chair — a professorship
  5. perch — for a bird
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. chair — a leader
  8. ground — crushed
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. bass — the fish
  13. perch — the fish
  14. chest — a box
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. kick — in football
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. date — the fruit
  20. bass — low music
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. ground — a position
  24. kick — with a leg

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