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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 goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  6. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  13. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  14. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. club — for golf
  5. press — a publisher
  6. stem — a stem cell
  7. chest — of your body
  8. craft — a skill
  9. chest — a box
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. mine — belonging to me
  13. club — a group
  14. press — newspapers
  15. clip — a video
  16. press — to push
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. clip — for paper
  19. clip — to cut
  20. craft — boats
  21. craft — a handicraft
  22. club — for dancing
  23. stem — to come from
  24. mine — for digging

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