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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. land — to come down
  4. bat — the animal
  5. pop — soda
  6. chest — of your body
  7. foot — the bottom
  8. cell — a phone
  9. chip — for betting
  10. pop — to visit
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. chip — to eat
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. foot — a measure
  15. cell — in biology
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. land — a country
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. safe — out of danger
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pop — music
  24. land — ground

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