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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a document
  5. court — for sport
  6. capital — money
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. root — of a plant
  9. capital — a city
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. rash — a series
  12. file — a line of people
  13. bank — for money
  14. bank — of a river
  15. court — of law
  16. chest — a box
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. rash — hasty
  19. root — of a word
  20. court — of a king
  21. straw — a straw man
  22. bank — for money
  23. root — the cause
  24. rash — on the skin

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