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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. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  14. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. court — of law
  4. chest — of your body
  5. spring — the season
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. staff — a stick
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. chest — a box
  11. spring — a coil
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. hide — animal skin
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. court — of a king
  16. staff — employees
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. chest — of your body
  19. band — a ring
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. sharp — clever
  22. band — a music group
  23. spring — of water
  24. court — for sport

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