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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 · mug · club · clip · toast · fall · last · pit

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  14. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mug — a face
  3. clip — to cut
  4. last — final
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. chest — of your body
  7. toast — bread
  8. club — for golf
  9. pit — in a race
  10. chest — a box
  11. mug — to rob
  12. fall — the season
  13. toast — the most admired
  14. mug — a cup
  15. last — finally
  16. clip — for paper
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pit — a hole
  19. last — to go on
  20. fall — to drop
  21. club — a group
  22. club — for dancing
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. clip — a video

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