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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  3. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. race — humankind
  3. patient — calm and waiting
  4. land — ground
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. wind — moving air
  7. spring — of water
  8. land — a country
  9. cue — a hint
  10. wind — moving air
  11. chest — of your body
  12. race — the arms race
  13. spring — the season
  14. bound — obliged
  15. cue — for pool
  16. chest — a box
  17. race — a contest
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bound — certain
  20. spring — a coil
  21. cue — a signal
  22. land — to come down
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. patient — a sick person

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