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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: file · bear · field · chest · cold · fan · tube · key

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  14. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. This piece is in a major ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — a box
  3. key — the most important part
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. key — for a lock
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. bear — the animal
  8. file — a tool
  9. fan — to cool the air
  10. cold — an illness
  11. field — farmland
  12. chest — of your body
  13. tube — a container
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. field — a subject
  17. file — a line of people
  18. bear — the animal
  19. tube — the underground
  20. key — in music
  21. field — for sport
  22. cold — not warm
  23. file — a document
  24. tube — in a tire

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