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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. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fine — a penalty
  3. shower — rain
  4. ball — a great time
  5. fine — high quality
  6. fall — the season
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. calf — of the leg
  11. chest — a box
  12. fine — all right
  13. chest — of your body
  14. ball — a dance
  15. pit — a fruit stone
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. pit — a hole
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. fall — to drop
  20. clip — a video
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. fall — to drop
  23. pit — in a race
  24. shower — to wash

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