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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fine — all right
  3. hand — in cards
  4. last — to go on
  5. jam — to spread on bread
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. cell — in biology
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. chest — a box
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. last — final
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. cell — a phone
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. fine — high quality
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. last — finally
  21. clip — to cut
  22. hand — help
  23. chest — of your body
  24. snap — to click

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