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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. How do you ________________ your surname?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bear — the animal
  3. trunk — of an elephant
  4. mug — a face
  5. spell — magic
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. bear — the animal
  8. mug — a cup
  9. race — a contest
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. mug — to rob
  13. race — humankind
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. spring — a coil
  16. spring — the season
  17. spring — of water
  18. chest — a box
  19. cell — a phone
  20. spell — a short time
  21. race — the arms race
  22. spell — letters
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cell — in biology

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