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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. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. Did you ________________ the button?
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. craft — boats
  3. chest — a box
  4. club — for dancing
  5. press — a publisher
  6. band — a ring
  7. wound — an injury
  8. press — to push
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. club — for golf
  11. chest — of your body
  12. ball — a great time
  13. craft — a skill
  14. press — newspapers
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. ball — a dance
  18. band — a music group
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. wound — an injury
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. club — a group
  24. trunk — of a car

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