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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: chest · pit · present · cell · snap · spring

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He was locked up in a ________________.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — in a prison
  3. spring — the season
  4. present — the time now
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. snap — to click
  9. cell — a phone
  10. present — a gift
  11. chest — a box
  12. present — there
  13. spring — of water
  14. cell — in biology
  15. pit — a hole
  16. pit — in a race
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — a coil

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