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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 polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cap — of ice
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. wake — a trail
  6. spring — the season
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cap — a lid
  9. cap — a hat
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. march — music
  13. squash — the sport
  14. ground — crushed
  15. march — the month
  16. chest — a box
  17. coach — pulled by horses
  18. squash — to crush
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. march — the month
  21. ground — a position
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. spring — a coil
  24. spring — of water

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