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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. present — the time now
  5. saw — the tool
  6. tear — from crying
  7. present — a gift
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. wound — an injury
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. present — there
  14. march — the month
  15. saw — the tool
  16. wound — an injury
  17. chest — of your body
  18. tear — to rip
  19. tear — from crying
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. march — the month
  22. chest — a box
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. march — music

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