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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. field — for sport
  5. clip — for paper
  6. spring — of water
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. ruler — a monarch
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bass — the fish
  12. drill — army training
  13. perch — the fish
  14. field — a subject
  15. drill — the tool
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. ruler — for measuring
  18. spring — the season
  19. bass — low music
  20. field — farmland
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. drill — a practice
  23. clip — a video
  24. spring — a coil

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