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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 ________________ took off on time.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. plane — an aircraft
  2. chest — a box
  3. march — the month
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chest — of your body
  7. rush — hurry
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. march — the month
  10. plane — a tool
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. march — music
  13. spring — the season
  14. rash — a series
  15. chest — of your body
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. spring — of water
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. spring — a coil
  23. rash — hasty
  24. rash — on the skin

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