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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. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. prune — to trim
  5. chest — a box
  6. prune — the fruit
  7. fall — to drop
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. stock — shares
  10. craft — a skill
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. craft — boats
  14. stock — goods
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. temple — side of the head
  19. fall — the season
  20. cold — not warm
  21. prune — to trim
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fall — to drop
  24. cold — an illness

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