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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 120 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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. march — the month
  3. tear — from crying
  4. staff — employees
  5. staff — employees
  6. tear — from crying
  7. march — the month
  8. file — a document
  9. chest — of your body
  10. land — a country
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. land — ground
  13. file — a line of people
  14. march — music
  15. tear — to rip
  16. staff — a stick
  17. spell — magic
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. chest — a box
  20. spell — a short time
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. land — to come down
  23. spell — letters
  24. file — a tool

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