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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rock — music
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. track — a song
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. rash — a series
  7. chest — a box
  8. ground — crushed
  9. track — to keep track
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. ground — a position
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. degree — temperature
  14. cell — in biology
  15. degree — from a university
  16. cell — a phone
  17. ground — the earth
  18. track — a path
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. chest — of your body
  21. rock — a stone
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. degree — an amount
  24. rash — hasty

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