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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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Word bank
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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 · clip · cold · track · season · safe · rest · swing

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rest — what's left
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. track — a song
  5. chest — of your body
  6. season — in sport
  7. chest — a box
  8. rest — what's left
  9. swing — in golf
  10. season — of the year
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. safe — a strongbox
  13. cold — not warm
  14. swing — to play on
  15. clip — for paper
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. cold — an illness
  18. swing — music
  19. track — a path
  20. track — to keep track
  21. safe — out of danger
  22. rest — a break
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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