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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  12. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. He works in a ________________ mill.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. march — the month
  4. stock — shares
  5. drill — army training
  6. saw — the tool
  7. file — a tool
  8. chair — to sit on
  9. chest — of your body
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. file — a document
  12. chair — a professorship
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. kick — in football
  15. stock — goods
  16. drill — the tool
  17. saw — the tool
  18. march — the month
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. drill — a practice
  21. stock — a soup base
  22. file — a line of people
  23. chair — a leader
  24. march — music

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