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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. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. file — a line of people
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. spell — magic
  5. bear — the animal
  6. file — a document
  7. capital — money
  8. chest — a box
  9. cap — a lid
  10. wind — moving air
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. cap — of ice
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. bear — the animal
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — a city
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. file — a tool
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. cap — a hat
  22. spell — a short time
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spell — letters

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