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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 124 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The ________________ went through the wall.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  24. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. nail — on a finger
  3. rush — hurry
  4. clip — for paper
  5. wind — moving air
  6. firm — a company
  7. face — part of the head
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. chest — of your body
  10. clip — to cut
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. face — to confront
  15. clip — a video
  16. cell — a phone
  17. face — to point toward
  18. cell — in biology
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. wind — moving air
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. chest — a box
  23. firm — steady
  24. firm — decided

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