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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — a weight
  3. wake — a trail
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rule — a law
  6. bat — the animal
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. rule — government
  9. chest — a box
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chest — of your body
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. tear — to rip
  19. wind — to turn a key
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. wind — moving air
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tear — from crying

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