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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  22. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — to hit hard
  3. degree — from a university
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — a group
  7. row — a line
  8. season — in sport
  9. pound — a weight
  10. shower — rain
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. chest — of your body
  13. club — for golf
  14. degree — an amount
  15. squash — to crush
  16. shower — to wash
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. row — to paddle
  20. season — of the year
  21. pound — for dogs
  22. squash — the sport
  23. degree — temperature
  24. chest — a box

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