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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. straw — a straw man
  3. present — a gift
  4. rash — hasty
  5. fall — to drop
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. rash — a series
  8. foot — a measure
  9. club — for dancing
  10. club — for golf
  11. foot — part of the body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. fall — the season
  14. cell — a phone
  15. present — the time now
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. fall — to drop
  18. chest — of your body
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. present — there
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. cell — in biology
  24. club — a group

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