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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. Don't do anything ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  18. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — hasty
  2. chest — of your body
  3. band — a ring
  4. cell — a phone
  5. chest — of your body
  6. pound — to hit hard
  7. pound — a weight
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. ruler — for measuring
  10. chest — a box
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. cell — in biology
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. mine — for digging
  17. board — a committee
  18. ruler — a monarch
  19. rash — a series
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. board — to get on
  22. pound — for dogs
  23. band — a music group
  24. mine — belonging to me

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