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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. Many English words ________________ from Latin.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. shower — to wash
  3. staff — a stick
  4. file — a tool
  5. rest — what's left
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. chest — of your body
  8. staff — employees
  9. file — a document
  10. rock — music
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. chest — a box
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rest — a break
  16. rock — a stone
  17. spring — a coil
  18. spring — the season
  19. spring — of water
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. file — a line of people
  22. shower — rain
  23. staff — employees
  24. stem — to come from

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