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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: coach · last · tube · scale · bat · chest · plane · wind

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. I'll be taking the ________________.
  13. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. last — finally
  3. chest — of your body
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. tube — a container
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. last — final
  11. scale — in music
  12. tube — the underground
  13. coach — pulled by horses
  14. plane — a tool
  15. scale — size or range
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. last — to go on
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. wind — moving air
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. bat — the animal
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. wind — moving air
  24. chest — a box

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