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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. We're on a ________________ here.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  20. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  21. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hand — help
  3. file — a line of people
  4. chest — a box
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. roll — a list
  7. saw — the tool
  8. roll — on a roll
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. hand — in cards
  11. saw — the tool
  12. bore — to drill
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. roll — a cake
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. field — farmland
  17. file — a tool
  18. chest — of your body
  19. bore — to tire
  20. field — for sport
  21. file — a document
  22. field — a subject
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. hand — part of the body

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