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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  20. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.

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. board — a flat piece
  4. chest — a box
  5. clip — a video
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. board — a committee
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. chest — of your body
  10. shower — rain
  11. mine — for digging
  12. shower — to wash
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. clip — to cut
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mark — a grade
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. mark — a trace
  20. deal — an agreement
  21. board — to get on
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. clip — for paper
  24. mark — to pay attention

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