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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: ball · date · land · present · straw · chest · rest · toast

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. land — ground
  3. present — the time now
  4. rest — a break
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. toast — the most admired
  8. present — a gift
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. chest — a box
  11. rest — what's left
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. toast — bread
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. ball — a great time
  16. toast — a drink to someone
  17. date — the fruit
  18. rest — what's left
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. land — to come down
  22. land — a country
  23. present — there
  24. ball — a dance

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