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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 · hand · tube · leaves · saw · sharp · last · pitcher

  1. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  8. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. He works in a ________________ mill.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. He is an ace ________________.
  17. It's one o'clock ________________.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. saw — the tool
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. sharp — clever
  6. chest — a box
  7. leaves — of a tree
  8. tube — in a tire
  9. hand — in cards
  10. last — to go on
  11. last — final
  12. saw — the tool
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. chest — of your body
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. pitcher — in baseball
  17. sharp — exactly
  18. hand — help
  19. tube — the underground
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. last — finally
  22. tube — a container
  23. chest — of your body
  24. pitcher — a jug

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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