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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cell — a phone
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mouse — for a computer
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. branch — of a bank
  8. chest — a box
  9. kick — with a leg
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. branch — a division
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. kick — in football
  17. mine — for digging
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. content — the amount
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. content — happy
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. cell — in biology

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