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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. When was this ________________ built?
  14. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. game — a match
  3. cap — a hat
  4. row — a line
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. chest — a box
  7. foot — a measure
  8. race — the arms race
  9. degree — an amount
  10. foot — the bottom
  11. cap — of ice
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. temple — a place of worship
  14. foot — part of the body
  15. degree — temperature
  16. chest — of your body
  17. row — a quarrel
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. race — a contest
  20. race — humankind
  21. row — to paddle
  22. game — wild animals
  23. degree — from a university
  24. cap — a lid

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