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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  7. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  20. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. file — a tool
  4. staff — a stick
  5. tear — from crying
  6. staff — employees
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. chest — a box
  9. track — a song
  10. file — a document
  11. file — a line of people
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. track — to keep track
  14. game — a match
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. game — wild animals
  17. track — a path
  18. tear — from crying
  19. tear — to rip
  20. staff — employees
  21. chest — of your body
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. chest — of your 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