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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. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He was locked up in a ________________.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wax — for sculpting
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. fall — to drop
  5. fall — the season
  6. mate — to breed
  7. mate — a partner
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. capital — money
  10. mate — a friend
  11. chest — a box
  12. wax — to grow
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cell — in biology
  15. rule — government
  16. fall — to drop
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. saw — the tool
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cell — in a prison
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. rule — a law
  23. capital — a city
  24. saw — the tool

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