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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. deal — to handle
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. game — a match
  7. wind — moving air
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. wound — an injury
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. game — wild animals
  12. wound — an injury
  13. deal — a big deal
  14. chest — a box
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. safe — out of danger
  19. chest — of your body
  20. safe — a strongbox
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. deal — an agreement
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. kick — in football

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