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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  9. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. file — a line of people
  8. rock — music
  9. leaves — of a tree
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. file — a document
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. rock — to move gently
  15. file — a tool
  16. chest — of your body
  17. rush — hurry
  18. wake — a trail
  19. kick — in football
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. degree — an amount
  23. rock — a stone
  24. chest — a box

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