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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. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. He works in a ________________ mill.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. swing — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. race — humankind
  7. spring — a coil
  8. face — to point toward
  9. degree — temperature
  10. spring — the season
  11. saw — the tool
  12. swing — in golf
  13. spring — of water
  14. race — the arms race
  15. degree — an amount
  16. swing — to play on
  17. degree — from a university
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. race — a contest
  20. face — to confront
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. face — part of the head
  23. chest — a box
  24. saw — the tool

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