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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: chest · face · tear · dip · object · cold · stem · scale

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  6. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  16. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. object — an aim
  3. cold — an illness
  4. face — to point toward
  5. scale — size or range
  6. dip — to sink
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. face — part of the head
  10. stem — a stem cell
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. scale — in music
  13. object — to protest
  14. chest — of your body
  15. object — a thing
  16. face — to confront
  17. stem — to come from
  18. tear — from crying
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — to rip
  22. cold — not warm
  23. stem — of a plant
  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