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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. face — part of the head
  3. swing — in golf
  4. kid — to tease
  5. swing — music
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. rule — a law
  9. kid — child
  10. scale — in music
  11. sharp — with an edge
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. face — to point toward
  14. swing — to play on
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. scale — size or range
  18. sharp — clever
  19. face — to confront
  20. chest — of your body
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. rule — government
  23. chest — a box
  24. plane — a tool

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