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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. I've got to change the light ________________.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. lean — to bend
  3. spring — a coil
  4. chest — of your body
  5. net — in sport
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. bulb — for light
  9. lean — thin
  10. pit — in a race
  11. spring — the season
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. row — to paddle
  14. pit — a hole
  15. chest — a box
  16. net — after costs
  17. game — a match
  18. net — for catching
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. row — a line
  22. spring — of water
  23. game — wild animals
  24. bulb — for light

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