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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  3. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  4. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  9. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. racket — a loud noise
  3. lie — to recline
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. degree — from a university
  9. lie — an untruth
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. pound — a weight
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. clip — a video
  16. chest — a box
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. clip — to cut
  19. spring — a coil
  20. spring — the season
  21. spring — of water
  22. clip — for paper
  23. degree — temperature
  24. degree — an amount

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