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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. When will it ________________ you to start?
  11. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. land — ground
  3. degree — an amount
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. band — a music group
  6. land — a country
  7. chest — of your body
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. suit — to fit
  11. suit — in cards
  12. wind — moving air
  13. degree — temperature
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. prune — to trim
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. kick — in football
  18. land — to come down
  19. suit — clothes
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — from a university
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. prune — the fruit

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