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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. David sat on the ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. How do you ________________ your surname?
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  23. When was this ________________ built?
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. swing — to play on
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. stock — shares
  6. spell — a short time
  7. swing — in golf
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. stock — goods
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bat — the animal
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. spell — magic
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. spell — letters
  20. band — a music group
  21. pitch — completely
  22. swing — music
  23. temple — a place of worship
  24. band — a ring

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