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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  5. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  6. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. wake — a trail
  5. bass — low music
  6. race — a contest
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bound — obliged
  10. bass — the fish
  11. bound — certain
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. bound — tied together
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. current — electric
  16. current — of water
  17. chest — a box
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. pound — a weight
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. race — the arms race
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. current — happening now
  24. race — humankind

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