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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. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. object — to protest
  3. track — to keep track
  4. track — a song
  5. hand — help
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. present — a gift
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. face — part of the head
  11. land — ground
  12. face — to confront
  13. chest — of your body
  14. face — to point toward
  15. present — there
  16. present — the time now
  17. land — to come down
  18. object — an aim
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. chest — a box
  21. hand — in cards
  22. land — a country
  23. track — a path
  24. object — a thing

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