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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 120 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 · lie · sharp · cabinet · field · stick · mine · deal

  1. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  7. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  10. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  11. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  12. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. What do you think of the new ________________?
  15. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — to handle
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. sharp — clever
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. cabinet — a cupboard
  7. cabinet — ministers
  8. field — farmland
  9. lie — to recline
  10. chest — of your body
  11. lie — an untruth
  12. lie — an untruth
  13. field — a subject
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. sharp — with an edge
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. stick — a piece of wood
  18. field — for sport
  19. chest — a box
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. chest — of your body
  22. mine — for digging
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. deal — a big deal

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