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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: dip · cue · present · temple · chest · land · tear · hand

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  5. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  12. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  17. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. present — there
  3. hand — help
  4. temple — side of the head
  5. tear — to rip
  6. chest — of your body
  7. tear — from crying
  8. tear — from crying
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. cue — a signal
  12. cue — for pool
  13. chest — a box
  14. cue — a hint
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. land — ground
  17. present — a gift
  18. hand — in cards
  19. present — the time now
  20. dip — a sauce
  21. land — a country
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. land — to come down
  24. dip — to sink

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