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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: chest · file · leaves · pop · stick · straw · racket · mine

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. We're almost out of ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. pop — soda
  5. chest — a box
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. file — a line of people
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. pop — music
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. mine — for digging
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. file — a tool
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. leaves — to go away
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. chest — of your body
  22. pop — to visit
  23. file — a document
  24. straw — a straw man

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