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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: fan · net · land · pit · chip · chest · face · last

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  20. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. last — final
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. net — after costs
  8. land — a country
  9. last — to go on
  10. face — to confront
  11. chip — to eat
  12. face — part of the head
  13. pit — in a race
  14. net — in sport
  15. pit — a hole
  16. chest — of your body
  17. net — for catching
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. last — finally
  20. chest — a box
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. face — to point toward
  24. chip — for betting

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