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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. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. This piece is in a major ________________.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. When will it ________________ you to start?
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  17. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. court — for sport
  3. suit — in cards
  4. bore — to tire
  5. spring — a coil
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. kick — in football
  9. key — in music
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. spring — of water
  12. spring — the season
  13. suit — to fit
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. key — for a lock
  16. bore — to drill
  17. key — the most important part
  18. suit — clothes
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. chest — a box
  21. court — of a king
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. chest — of your body
  24. court — of law

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