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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: chest · club · cold · rest · tear · bay

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. My mare is ________________ in color.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. rest — what's left
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tear — from crying
  5. cold — not warm
  6. chest — of your body
  7. chest — a box
  8. bay — a part of the sea
  9. rest — a break
  10. rest — what's left
  11. club — for golf
  12. club — for dancing
  13. bay — to keep at bay
  14. club — a group
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. tear — to rip
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bay — a horse colour

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