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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 120 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chest · stock · lean · cell · object · tear

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  13. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  14. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. tear — from crying
  4. stock — shares
  5. tear — from crying
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. cell — a phone
  8. chest — a box
  9. stock — goods
  10. chest — of your body
  11. cell — in biology
  12. object — to protest
  13. tear — to rip
  14. stock — a soup base
  15. object — an aim
  16. lean — thin
  17. lean — to bend
  18. object — a thing

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