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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. She's very handy with a ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  24. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. ground — a position
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. spring — the season
  7. ground — crushed
  8. spring — a coil
  9. chest — a box
  10. lean — thin
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — to put up with
  13. spring — of water
  14. saw — the tool
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. ground — the earth
  18. saw — the tool
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. lean — to bend
  22. roll — a list
  23. bear — the animal
  24. roll — a cake

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