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

Word bank: tear · cell · calf · last · chair · chest

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. False peace will not ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. tear — from crying
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. last — finally
  5. last — final
  6. chest — a box
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. cell — a phone
  9. calf — of the leg
  10. chair — a leader
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. last — to go on
  13. tear — from crying
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. cell — in biology
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chest — of your body
  18. calf — a young animal

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