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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 big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  8. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  14. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. stem — of a plant
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fall — the season
  7. fan — to cool the air
  8. stem — to come from
  9. chest — of your body
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. stem — a stem cell
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. degree — temperature
  14. patient — calm and waiting
  15. pitch — completely
  16. degree — an amount
  17. fall — to drop
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. degree — from a university
  20. chest — a box
  21. snap — to click
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. fall — to drop

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