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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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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: last · present · mine · chest · wind · arm · lie · firm

  1. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  4. False peace will not ________________.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — for digging
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. last — final
  4. last — to go on
  5. wind — moving air
  6. firm — a company
  7. last — finally
  8. firm — decided
  9. chest — of your body
  10. present — the time now
  11. lie — to recline
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. wind — moving air
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. lie — an untruth
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. present — a gift
  19. present — there
  20. chest — a box
  21. firm — steady
  22. chest — of your body
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. arm — part of the 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