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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: key · lean · cold · tube · bowl · chest · row · arm

  1. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  2. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  14. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. My father caught me by the ________________.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  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. tube — a container
  2. key — the most important part
  3. chest — of your body
  4. row — to paddle
  5. bowl — to roll
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — an illness
  8. row — a line
  9. lean — thin
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. lean — to bend
  13. key — for a lock
  14. bowl — a dish
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. tube — the underground
  17. arm — part of the body
  18. key — in music
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. arm — part of the body
  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