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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 120 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: chair · field · fan · tear · chest · file · rest · cabinet

  1. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fan — to cool the air
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cabinet — a cupboard
  4. file — a tool
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. chest — of your body
  8. rest — what's left
  9. file — a line of people
  10. tear — from crying
  11. field — a subject
  12. file — a document
  13. rest — what's left
  14. chair — a leader
  15. tear — to rip
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. field — farmland
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. chest — of your body
  20. tear — from crying
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. rest — a break
  23. chest — a box
  24. field — for sport

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