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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. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  4. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. drill — army training
  4. press — a publisher
  5. drill — the tool
  6. chest — of your body
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. capital — a city
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. content — the amount
  11. press — newspapers
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. chest — a box
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. hide — to keep secret
  17. press — to push
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. dip — to sink
  20. drill — a practice
  21. capital — money
  22. content — happy
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. capital — a big letter

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