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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. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. swing — music
  3. swing — in golf
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. mine — for digging
  10. rash — a series
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. shower — to wash
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. swing — to play on
  17. content — happy
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. chest — a box
  20. rash — hasty
  21. shower — rain
  22. content — the amount
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  24. cabinet — ministers

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