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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. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  6. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. firm — steady
  3. last — final
  4. row — to paddle
  5. chair — a professorship
  6. trunk — of a tree
  7. chair — a leader
  8. firm — decided
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. chest — of your body
  12. last — to go on
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. shower — to wash
  15. chest — a box
  16. wax — to grow
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. shower — rain
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. row — a line
  22. trunk — of a car
  23. last — finally
  24. firm — a company

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