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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cell · chest · swing · hide · toast · game

  1. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. swing — music
  3. chest — of your body
  4. toast — a drink to someone
  5. chest — a box
  6. game — a match
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. swing — in golf
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. toast — bread
  11. toast — the most admired
  12. cell — a phone
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cell — in biology
  15. hide — to keep secret
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. swing — to play on
  18. hide — to keep secret

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