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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. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  3. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  4. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. How do you ________________ your surname?
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. charge — in control
  3. charge — electricity
  4. cue — a hint
  5. net — after costs
  6. field — farmland
  7. degree — an amount
  8. cue — a signal
  9. bound — certain
  10. charge — a price
  11. net — in sport
  12. degree — temperature
  13. spell — magic
  14. net — for catching
  15. bound — tied together
  16. cue — for pool
  17. degree — from a university
  18. field — for sport
  19. spell — a short time
  20. chest — a box
  21. spell — letters
  22. chest — of your body
  23. field — a subject
  24. bound — obliged

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