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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. I'll be taking the ________________.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — a phone
  3. net — after costs
  4. plane — a tool
  5. net — in sport
  6. cell — in biology
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. chest — a box
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. tube — the underground
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. tube — in a tire
  17. tube — a container
  18. roll — a cake
  19. chest — of your body
  20. mine — for digging
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. roll — a list
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. net — for catching

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