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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. I can't ________________ this cold.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. chest — of your body
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. stand — to bear
  6. clip — a video
  7. object — an aim
  8. wind — moving air
  9. mouse — for a computer
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. clip — for paper
  12. wind — moving air
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. chest — a box
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. object — to protest
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. object — a thing
  22. pound — a weight
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. clip — to cut

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