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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 elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  16. What do you think of the new ________________?
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bear — the animal
  4. chest — of your body
  5. trunk — of a tree
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. scale — for weighing
  8. field — for sport
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. chest — a box
  12. field — farmland
  13. field — a subject
  14. stock — goods
  15. cabinet — ministers
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. scale — size or range
  18. scale — in music
  19. squash — the sport
  20. bear — the animal
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. bear — to put up with
  23. stock — shares
  24. squash — to crush

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