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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 124 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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  6. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  16. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. scale — for weighing
  3. scale — size or range
  4. root — of a word
  5. cap — a lid
  6. bark — of a tree
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. bark — to shout
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. hand — in cards
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. root — the cause
  16. cap — a hat
  17. cap — of ice
  18. hand — help
  19. chest — of your body
  20. scale — in music
  21. kick — in football
  22. straw — a straw man
  23. chest — of your body
  24. root — of a plant

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