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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  19. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mate — a partner
  3. chest — a box
  4. firm — steady
  5. clip — to cut
  6. squash — to crush
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. prune — to trim
  9. clip — for paper
  10. prune — to trim
  11. mate — a friend
  12. mate — to breed
  13. prune — the fruit
  14. row — a line
  15. squash — the sport
  16. firm — decided
  17. clip — a video
  18. object — to protest
  19. object — a thing
  20. object — an aim
  21. chest — of your body
  22. firm — a company
  23. row — to paddle
  24. row — a quarrel

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