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

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I can't ________________ this cold.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. staff — a stick
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. staff — employees
  5. chest — of your body
  6. stem — to come from
  7. stand — to bear
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. game — wild animals
  12. game — a match
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. stem — a stem cell
  16. kid — child
  17. staff — employees
  18. chest — a box

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