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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 120 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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  5. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. When was this ________________ built?
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The train ________________ at six o'clock.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. chest — of your body
  4. leaves — lets stay
  5. leaves — of a tree
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. chest — a box
  9. temple — a place of worship
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. snap — to click
  12. band — a ring
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. band — a music group
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. dip — to sink
  17. wound — an injury
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. chest — of your body
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. leaves — to go away

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