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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 information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  3. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  20. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  21. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  22. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. file — a document
  3. chip — to eat
  4. file — a tool
  5. tear — from crying
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. club — for dancing
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. chest — a box
  12. file — a line of people
  13. club — for golf
  14. stem — to come from
  15. chest — of your body
  16. tear — to rip
  17. club — a group
  18. tear — from crying
  19. nail — on a finger
  20. stem — of a plant
  21. sharp — clever
  22. chip — for betting
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. nail — for a hammer

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