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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. This piece is in a major ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. snap — to click
  3. last — final
  4. land — to come down
  5. bass — low music
  6. land — ground
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. racket — a loud noise
  9. last — to go on
  10. land — a country
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. last — finally
  13. key — in music
  14. rest — a break
  15. chest — a box
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. key — for a lock
  18. key — the most important part
  19. rest — what's left
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bass — the instrument
  22. bass — the fish
  23. chest — of your body
  24. rest — what's left

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