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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. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  24. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rule — to rule out
  3. rule — government
  4. bound — obliged
  5. bound — tied together
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. spring — of water
  8. spring — the season
  9. scale — in music
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — a tool
  12. track — a path
  13. track — to keep track
  14. chest — of your body
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. chest — a box
  18. bound — certain
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. scale — size or range
  21. track — a song
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. spring — a coil
  24. rule — a law

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