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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. I've got to change the light ________________.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  24. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. race — humankind
  4. snap — to click
  5. kick — in football
  6. field — farmland
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. chest — a box
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. chest — of your body
  13. field — a subject
  14. season — in sport
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. bulb — for light
  18. race — a contest
  19. field — for sport
  20. bulb — for light
  21. season — of the year
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. ruler — a monarch
  24. race — the arms race

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