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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. pit — a hole
  4. cold — an illness
  5. chest — of your body
  6. firm — decided
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. mine — for digging
  9. firm — a company
  10. pitch — completely
  11. chest — a box
  12. hand — help
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. mug — a cup
  15. firm — steady
  16. mug — to rob
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. hand — in cards
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. chest — of your body
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pit — in a race
  24. cold — not warm

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