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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  14. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. chest — of your body
  3. spell — letters
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. rush — hurry
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. spell — a short time
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chest — of your body
  12. club — for dancing
  13. lie — to recline
  14. degree — temperature
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. spell — magic
  17. degree — an amount
  18. cell — a phone
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. chest — a box
  21. degree — from a university
  22. club — a group
  23. chair — a leader
  24. cell — in biology

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