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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  17. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rule — a law
  3. chest — of your body
  4. net — for catching
  5. cap — a hat
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. chest — a box
  8. branch — a division
  9. cap — of ice
  10. cap — a lid
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. content — happy
  13. net — in sport
  14. rule — government
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. branch — of a tree
  17. sharp — clever
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. content — the amount
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. net — after costs
  24. branch — of a bank

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