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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: rush · chest · patient · temple · mouse · file · pound · kick

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  6. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. When was this ________________ built?
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. rush — hurry
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. kick — in football
  6. rush — to hurry
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. chest — of your body
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. file — a line of people
  16. chest — a box
  17. pound — a weight
  18. mouse — the animal
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. kick — with a leg

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