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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  22. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. chest — of your body
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. ball — a dance
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cold — not warm
  15. scale — in music
  16. scale — size or range
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. chest — a box
  20. ball — a great time
  21. fall — to drop
  22. fall — the season
  23. cold — an illness
  24. fall — to drop

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