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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: chest · ground · cold · root · hand · row · cabinet · game

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  5. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. What do you think of the new ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. cold — not warm
  4. root — the cause
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. ground — a position
  7. root — of a word
  8. hand — in cards
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. root — of a plant
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. cold — an illness
  14. chest — a box
  15. game — a match
  16. row — to paddle
  17. ground — the earth
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. row — a line
  20. hand — help
  21. ground — crushed
  22. chest — of your body
  23. game — wild animals
  24. cabinet — ministers

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