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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. pop — soda
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. row — to paddle
  10. row — a line
  11. chip — for betting
  12. chip — to eat
  13. wave — of the sea
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. pop — to visit
  17. trunk — of a car
  18. pop — music
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cold — an illness
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — not warm

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