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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: date · chest · foot · file · wake · fall · cell · roll

  1. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  21. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  22. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  23. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. cell — in biology
  4. chest — a box
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. chest — of your body
  8. chest — of your body
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. fall — to drop
  11. fall — the season
  12. cell — a phone
  13. date — the fruit
  14. wake — a trail
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. foot — a measure
  17. roll — a list
  18. file — a line of people
  19. fall — to drop
  20. roll — a cake
  21. foot — part of the body
  22. wake — to stop sleeping
  23. file — a tool
  24. file — a document

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