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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 ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The King held a masked ________________.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. ground — the earth
  3. row — a line
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. land — ground
  9. content — happy
  10. chest — a box
  11. ball — a dance
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. ball — a great time
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. land — to come down
  17. chest — of your body
  18. ground — crushed
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. ground — a position
  21. land — a country
  22. row — to paddle
  23. content — the amount
  24. dip — to sink

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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