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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: cold · rush · foot · pop · arm · trunk · chest · tear

  1. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — from crying
  2. pop — soda
  3. rush — hurry
  4. chest — of your body
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. pop — to visit
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — not warm
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. foot — a measure
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pop — music
  16. chest — a box
  17. tear — from crying
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. tear — to rip

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