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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. You don't need to ________________ round.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. chest — of your body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. capital — a city
  6. mug — a cup
  7. pop — soda
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. chest — a box
  12. temple — side of the head
  13. hand — help
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. pop — to visit
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. mug — to rob
  18. straw — to clutch at straws
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. pop — music
  21. capital — money
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. temple — a place of worship

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