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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. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  5. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. This piece is in a major ________________.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. key — for a lock
  5. pitch — a sales talk
  6. wound — an injury
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. ball — a great time
  10. pitch — completely
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — a box
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. hand — help
  15. key — in music
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. hand — in cards
  18. key — the most important part
  19. pit — in a race
  20. wound — an injury
  21. spring — of water
  22. spring — the season
  23. spring — a coil
  24. pit — a hole

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