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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. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  4. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  5. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  18. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. net — after costs
  3. face — part of the head
  4. cabinet — a cupboard
  5. face — to confront
  6. pop — music
  7. pop — soda
  8. face — to point toward
  9. can — a tin
  10. chest — a box
  11. net — for catching
  12. mine — for digging
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. wound — an injury
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. can — to be able to
  18. can — a tin
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. wound — an injury
  22. net — in sport
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. pop — to visit

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