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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. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  20. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  21. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. swing — music
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. branch — a division
  6. mate — a partner
  7. kick — in football
  8. march — the month
  9. chest — a box
  10. march — music
  11. mate — a friend
  12. branch — of a bank
  13. swing — to play on
  14. mate — to breed
  15. wind — moving air
  16. spell — letters
  17. chest — of your body
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. spell — a short time
  20. march — the month
  21. kick — with a leg
  22. spell — magic
  23. swing — in golf
  24. wind — moving air

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