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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  8. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  9. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. hand — in cards
  6. fall — the season
  7. mark — a grade
  8. fall — to drop
  9. pop — music
  10. pop — to visit
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. branch — a division
  15. clip — to cut
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. chest — of your body
  18. mark — a trace
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. hand — help
  21. fall — to drop
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. pop — soda

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