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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: dip · land · pit · cue · tear · chest

  1. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. land — a country
  3. chest — of your body
  4. tear — from crying
  5. pit — in a race
  6. chest — a box
  7. tear — to rip
  8. pit — a fruit stone
  9. chest — of your body
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. tear — from crying
  12. pit — a hole
  13. cue — a signal
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. land — to come down
  16. cue — for pool
  17. land — ground
  18. dip — to sink

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