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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. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. plane — in geometry
  3. chest — a box
  4. current — happening now
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. band — a music group
  7. bulb — for light
  8. chest — of your body
  9. band — a ring
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. mine — for digging
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cap — a hat
  14. bulb — for light
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. current — of water
  17. plane — a tool
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. cap — of ice
  20. kid — child
  21. cap — a lid
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. current — electric
  24. mine — an explosive

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