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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  10. He works in a ________________ mill.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. She's very handy with a ________________.
  16. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. pit — in a race
  7. rock — to move gently
  8. scale — in music
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. saw — the tool
  11. scale — size or range
  12. pit — a fruit stone
  13. pit — a hole
  14. chest — of your body
  15. saw — the tool
  16. rock — music
  17. fork — in a road
  18. rock — a stone
  19. cold — not warm
  20. ruler — a monarch
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. chest — a box
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. cold — an illness

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