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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 stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Don't do anything ________________.
  15. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. field — for sport
  3. cell — in biology
  4. capital — money
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. lean — thin
  8. prune — to trim
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. staff — employees
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. chest — a box
  14. rash — hasty
  15. staff — a stick
  16. cell — a phone
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. field — a subject
  20. staff — employees
  21. rash — a series
  22. lean — to bend
  23. field — farmland
  24. prune — to trim

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