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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. David sat on the ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. scale — size or range
  3. spring — the season
  4. last — finally
  5. swing — to play on
  6. chest — of your body
  7. swing — music
  8. last — to go on
  9. spring — of water
  10. swing — in golf
  11. spring — a coil
  12. scale — in music
  13. cell — in biology
  14. scale — for weighing
  15. last — final
  16. ground — the earth
  17. ground — a position
  18. face — to confront
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. ground — crushed
  21. face — part of the head
  22. face — to point toward
  23. chest — of your body
  24. chest — a box

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