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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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Word bank
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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: lean · chest · plane · degree · tear · patient · file · safe

  1. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  2. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  3. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  4. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  8. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  11. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  15. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. safe — out of danger
  2. tear — from crying
  3. plane — in geometry
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. degree — temperature
  6. tear — from crying
  7. safe — a strongbox
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. tear — to rip
  10. lean — to rest against
  11. lean — thin
  12. chest — of your body
  13. file — a line of people
  14. lean — to bend
  15. safe — out of danger
  16. degree — from a university
  17. chest — a box
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. plane — a tool
  20. chest — of your body
  21. degree — an amount
  22. file — a document
  23. file — a tool
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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