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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The tickets are free of ________________.
  19. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. scale — size or range
  3. rest — a break
  4. charge — in control
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. clip — to cut
  8. rest — what's left
  9. clip — a video
  10. shower — rain
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. chest — a box
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. bear — the animal
  16. shower — to wash
  17. chest — of your body
  18. charge — a price
  19. charge — electricity
  20. capital — money
  21. bear — the animal
  22. clip — for paper
  23. rest — what's left
  24. capital — a city

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