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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: current · tear · fall · chest · straw · pound

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. current — of water
  3. current — happening now
  4. fall — to drop
  5. pound — a weight
  6. chest — of your body
  7. fall — the season
  8. chest — a box
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. tear — from crying
  12. current — electric
  13. fall — to drop
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. tear — from crying
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. tear — to rip
  18. straw — dry grass

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