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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. The light ________________ burned out.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I've got to change the light ________________.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. track — to keep track
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. wind — moving air
  5. cold — an illness
  6. track — a song
  7. fork — in a road
  8. bulb — for light
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. track — a path
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. chair — a leader
  16. wind — moving air
  17. chest — of your body
  18. bulb — for light
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. kick — in football
  22. chest — a box
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kick — a thrill

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