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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  19. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  20. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. ruler — a monarch
  3. club — a group
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. land — to come down
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. saw — the tool
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. club — for dancing
  10. chest — a box
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. chest — of your body
  13. pound — to hit hard
  14. land — a country
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. saw — the tool
  17. root — of a plant
  18. root — of a word
  19. land — ground
  20. trunk — of a tree
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. club — for golf
  23. pound — a weight
  24. root — the cause

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