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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 got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  8. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  21. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  22. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. stem — of a plant
  6. cold — an illness
  7. toast — bread
  8. dip — to dunk
  9. net — for catching
  10. cold — not warm
  11. dip — to sink
  12. net — after costs
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. hand — help
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. chest — a box
  18. net — in sport
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. wax — to grow
  21. wax — in the ear
  22. toast — a drink to someone
  23. chest — of your body
  24. cold — the Cold War

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