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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. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. chest — a box
  4. rush — hurry
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. stock — goods
  8. dip — to sink
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. chest — of your body
  11. row — a line
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. hand — in cards
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. row — to paddle
  19. stock — shares
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. date — the fruit
  23. hand — help
  24. hand — 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