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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: swing · chest · rest · current · toast · wound · pop · mouse

  1. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  2. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. We're almost out of ________________.
  15. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. You don't need to ________________ round.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — the most admired
  2. mouse — for a computer
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — a box
  5. rest — what's left
  6. current — electric
  7. toast — bread
  8. swing — in golf
  9. wound — an injury
  10. current — of water
  11. swing — music
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. swing — to play on
  14. pop — soda
  15. mouse — the animal
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. current — happening now
  18. rest — a break
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. wound — an injury
  21. pop — music
  22. chest — of your body
  23. pop — to visit
  24. rest — what's left

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