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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  14. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  15. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. pass — a permit
  5. band — a ring
  6. chest — of your body
  7. snap — to click
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. game — a match
  11. bear — the animal
  12. band — a music group
  13. bear — the animal
  14. root — of a plant
  15. root — of a word
  16. game — wild animals
  17. root — the cause
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. chest — a box
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. bear — to put up with
  24. wind — moving air

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