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

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The ________________ took off on time.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. plane — a tool
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. spring — the season
  6. chip — to eat
  7. chest — of your body
  8. stem — to come from
  9. spring — a coil
  10. plane — an aircraft
  11. chest — a box
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. chip — for betting
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. chip — in a computer
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. spring — of water
  18. straw — a straw man

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