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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. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  17. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pit — a fruit stone
  3. rest — a break
  4. net — after costs
  5. net — in sport
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. chest — a box
  10. sharp — clever
  11. chip — to eat
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. rest — what's left
  15. chest — of your body
  16. pit — a hole
  17. chip — for betting
  18. trunk — of an elephant
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. rest — what's left
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. net — for catching
  23. tear — to rip
  24. pit — in a race

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