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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Have you met the new head ________________?
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Did you ________________ the meat?
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. fan — to cool the air
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. chest — of your body
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. foot — a measure
  9. foot — part of the body
  10. clip — a video
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. coach — a trainer
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. chest — a box
  16. clip — for paper
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. season — to add flavour
  19. season — of the year
  20. clip — to cut
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. straw — dry grass

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