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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. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  19. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. The ________________ change colour in autumn.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. craft — a skill
  7. chest — a box
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. spell — a short time
  10. mine — for digging
  11. rash — a series
  12. sharp — clever
  13. craft — boats
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. chest — of your body
  17. spell — letters
  18. leaves — lets stay
  19. spell — magic
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. rash — hasty
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. leaves — of a tree

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