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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  4. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ market has crashed.
  7. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  8. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. What do you think of the new ________________?
  11. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bear — the animal
  5. shower — to wash
  6. stock — shares
  7. cabinet — a cupboard
  8. shower — a meteor shower
  9. file — a tool
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. bear — to put up with
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. date — the fruit
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. shower — rain
  17. file — a line of people
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. chest — of your body
  20. file — a document
  21. chest — a box
  22. bear — the animal
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. coach — a trainer

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