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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  6. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  7. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  8. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. cold — an illness
  4. mate — a friend
  5. mark — a grade
  6. pound — for dogs
  7. mark — a trace
  8. bank — for money
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. bank — of a river
  12. row — to paddle
  13. mate — to breed
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. chest — a box
  16. bank — for money
  17. kick — in football
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. row — a line
  21. cold — not warm
  22. mate — a partner
  23. chest — of your body
  24. pound — to hit hard

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