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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. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — pulled by horses
  2. chest — of your body
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. land — to come down
  10. rest — what's left
  11. chest — of your body
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. land — ground
  14. rest — a break
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. dip — to sink
  17. spell — letters
  18. spell — magic
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. rest — what's left
  21. cabinet — a cupboard
  22. chest — a box
  23. land — a country
  24. spell — a short time

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