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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. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fine — high quality
  3. chest — a box
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. rule — government
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. file — a document
  11. mine — for digging
  12. kid — child
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. bound — obliged
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. file — a tool
  17. kid — to tease
  18. rule — a law
  19. chest — of your body
  20. stock — shares
  21. bound — tied together
  22. fine — all right
  23. bound — certain
  24. stock — goods

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