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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. She's very handy with a ________________.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  15. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  21. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. chest — of your body
  3. stem — to come from
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. mate — a partner
  6. chest — a box
  7. rest — what's left
  8. saw — the tool
  9. mate — to breed
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. saw — the tool
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. rest — what's left
  14. mate — a friend
  15. rest — a break
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. stem — of a plant
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. sharp — clever
  20. hand — in cards
  21. stock — goods
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. stock — shares
  24. chest — of your 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