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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  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. game — wild animals
  3. march — the month
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. clip — to cut
  6. wave — a sudden rise
  7. fine — high quality
  8. leaves — to go away
  9. chest — of your body
  10. fall — the season
  11. march — music
  12. fine — all right
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. clip — for paper
  16. chest — a box
  17. clip — a video
  18. wave — of the sea
  19. game — a match
  20. march — the month
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fine — a penalty
  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