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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. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. I can't ________________ this cold.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. stand — on your feet
  4. spell — letters
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cell — in biology
  8. spell — magic
  9. tear — to rip
  10. tear — from crying
  11. spell — a short time
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. tear — from crying
  15. stand — to bear
  16. chest — of your body
  17. cell — a phone
  18. key — the most important part
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — the fruit
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. key — in music
  23. chest — a box
  24. key — for a lock

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