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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 you need a ________________ with that?
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  9. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  10. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hand — help
  3. swing — to play on
  4. toast — the most admired
  5. march — music
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. toast — bread
  8. stock — goods
  9. drill — army training
  10. march — the month
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. hand — in cards
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. chest — a box
  15. swing — music
  16. chest — of your body
  17. toast — a drink to someone
  18. drill — a practice
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. march — the month
  21. stock — shares
  22. swing — in golf
  23. drill — the tool
  24. foot — a measure

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