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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. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. Have you found your soul ________________?
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. mate — to breed
  4. spring — a coil
  5. spring — the season
  6. mate — a friend
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. chest — of your body
  9. snap — to click
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. chest — a box
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. spring — of water
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. trunk — of a car
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mate — a partner
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. snap — to snap out of it
  22. perch — the fish
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bat — in an idiom

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