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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  20. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. My mare is ________________ in color.
  23. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. clip — a video
  3. ground — a position
  4. hand — in cards
  5. ground — the earth
  6. bowl — a football final
  7. present — a gift
  8. clip — to cut
  9. chest — of your body
  10. present — there
  11. present — the time now
  12. hand — help
  13. clip — for paper
  14. wake — a trail
  15. chest — a box
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. ground — crushed
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. bay — a part of the sea
  20. bowl — a dish
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. bay — a horse colour
  23. bay — to keep at bay
  24. bowl — to roll

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