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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  3. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  4. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. foot — a measure
  3. tear — from crying
  4. scale — size or range
  5. pit — in a race
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. lean — thin
  9. squash — to crush
  10. tear — to rip
  11. chest — a box
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. squash — the sport
  14. pit — a hole
  15. scale — in music
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lean — to bend
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. foot — the bottom
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. tear — from crying
  24. arm — part of the body

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