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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. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  14. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  19. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  20. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — a strongbox
  2. cell — in biology
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. content — happy
  6. drill — army training
  7. drill — the tool
  8. content — the amount
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. ground — a position
  11. ground — crushed
  12. cell — a phone
  13. branch — a division
  14. branch — of a tree
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. drill — a practice
  19. perch — the fish
  20. branch — of a bank
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. chest — a box
  24. ground — the earth

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