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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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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: fork · toast · foot · tube · land · chest · roll · cell

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  16. I'll be taking the ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  19. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. tube — a container
  4. cell — a phone
  5. chest — of your body
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. toast — bread
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. land — to come down
  13. fork — in a road
  14. chest — a box
  15. foot — part of the body
  16. tube — the underground
  17. cell — in biology
  18. foot — the bottom
  19. toast — the most admired
  20. foot — a measure
  21. roll — a list
  22. land — ground
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. land — a country

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