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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. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  17. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — to breed
  2. chest — of your body
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. snap — to click
  5. chest — of your body
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. pit — in a race
  8. content — videos and posts
  9. pit — a hole
  10. content — the amount
  11. mate — a friend
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. chest — a box
  16. content — happy
  17. vault — a safe
  18. mate — a partner
  19. fall — to drop
  20. vault — in gymnastics
  21. fall — the season
  22. fall — to drop
  23. game — a match
  24. game — wild animals

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