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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. squash — the sport
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. rule — government
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. bat — the animal
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. squash — to crush
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. clip — a video
  13. capital — money
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. chest — a box
  17. clip — to cut
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. rule — a law
  23. capital — a city
  24. cabinet — ministers

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