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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. current — of water
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. pitch — completely
  6. fork — in a road
  7. land — a country
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. land — ground
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. wind — moving air
  15. current — electric
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. current — happening now
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wind — moving air
  22. chest — a box
  23. cold — an illness
  24. land — to come down

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