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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — a phone
  3. prune — to trim
  4. bound — tied together
  5. land — to come down
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. cell — in biology
  8. land — a country
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. bound — certain
  13. chest — of your body
  14. squash — the sport
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. squash — to crush
  17. chest — a box
  18. prune — to trim
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. pass — a permit
  21. prune — the fruit
  22. game — a match
  23. land — ground
  24. bound — obliged

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