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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 124 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 birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. perch — for a bird
  3. cold — an illness
  4. pop — music
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. fall — to drop
  7. pop — soda
  8. chest — of your body
  9. rock — to move gently
  10. fall — the season
  11. rock — music
  12. chest — a box
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. date — on the calendar
  17. fall — to drop
  18. rock — a stone
  19. pop — to visit
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. cold — not warm
  24. date — the fruit

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