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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: track · race · scale · chest · land · cell · foot · arm

  1. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  8. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. My father caught me by the ________________.
  11. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  14. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. chest — a box
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. land — to come down
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. race — the arms race
  8. race — a contest
  9. chest — of your body
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. race — humankind
  12. foot — a measure
  13. foot — the bottom
  14. arm — a part of something
  15. track — a path
  16. land — a country
  17. cell — a phone
  18. chest — of your body
  19. track — a song
  20. cell — in biology
  21. land — ground
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. scale — in music
  24. scale — size or range

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