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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 120 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 ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. field — for sport
  3. shower — to wash
  4. firm — decided
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. cell — a phone
  8. firm — a company
  9. field — farmland
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kid — child
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cell — in biology
  14. chest — of your body
  15. firm — steady
  16. field — a subject
  17. shower — rain
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. rest — what's left
  23. chest — a box
  24. rest — a break

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