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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. We're on a ________________ here.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  20. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wake — a trail
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. roll — on a roll
  5. file — a line of people
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. hand — in cards
  8. hand — help
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a tool
  11. land — to come down
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. roll — a cake
  14. roll — a list
  15. chest — a box
  16. land — ground
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. chest — of your body
  19. wake — before a funeral
  20. date — the fruit
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. land — a country
  24. date — on the calendar

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