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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're almost out of ________________.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  6. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pop — soda
  3. kid — child
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. arm — a part of something
  6. club — for golf
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. club — for dancing
  10. chest — of your body
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. clip — a video
  14. kid — to tease
  15. plane — a tool
  16. pop — music
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. chest — a box
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. branch — a division
  21. club — a group
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. pop — to visit
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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