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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: chest · track · last · stock · cell · hand · drill · arm

  1. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. The ________________ market has crashed.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. drill — a practice
  2. drill — the tool
  3. track — to keep track
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. track — a path
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. last — final
  8. hand — in cards
  9. chest — a box
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. drill — army training
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cell — a phone
  15. stock — goods
  16. stock — shares
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — finally
  19. arm — a part of something
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. hand — help
  22. track — a song
  23. cell — in biology
  24. chest — of your body

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