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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  20. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. trunk — of a tree
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. spring — the season
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. scale — in music
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. spring — a coil
  11. chest — of your body
  12. drill — army training
  13. scale — size or range
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. fork — in a road
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. hand — in cards
  19. drill — the tool
  20. drill — a practice
  21. spring — of water
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. chest — a box
  24. hand — help

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