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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: snap · leaves · tear · chest · ground · rule

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  14. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  15. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  16. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  17. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. leaves — of a tree
  4. snap — to click
  5. rule — to rule out
  6. ground — crushed
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. tear — from crying
  9. chest — a box
  10. tear — to rip
  11. ground — a position
  12. tear — from crying
  13. leaves — to go away
  14. leaves — lets stay
  15. ground — the earth
  16. rule — a law
  17. rule — government
  18. snap — to speak sharply

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