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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  4. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. staff — employees
  4. pitch — a sports field
  5. rest — what's left
  6. staff — a stick
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. spring — a coil
  11. staff — employees
  12. rest — a break
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. spring — of water
  16. chest — of your body
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. rest — what's left
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. pitch — completely
  23. spring — the season
  24. chest — a box

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