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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. What do you think of the new ________________?
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  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. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. chest — of your body
  4. mine — for digging
  5. face — part of the head
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. face — to point toward
  9. spring — of water
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kick — in football
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. straw — dry grass
  15. sharp — clever
  16. cabinet — ministers
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. spring — the season
  20. face — to confront
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. cabinet — a cupboard
  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