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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. stand — on your feet
  3. hand — help
  4. degree — an amount
  5. chest — of your body
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. degree — from a university
  9. band — a ring
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. chest — a box
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. chest — of your body
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. clip — to cut
  20. degree — temperature
  21. clip — a video
  22. clip — for paper
  23. stand — to bear
  24. band — a music group

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