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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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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: chest · tear · hand · present · fall · staff · game · lean

  1. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  10. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  18. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  19. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. tear — to rip
  2. staff — employees
  3. hand — in cards
  4. present — a gift
  5. chest — a box
  6. game — a match
  7. staff — a stick
  8. present — there
  9. lean — thin
  10. lean — to bend
  11. tear — from crying
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. present — the time now
  14. fall — to drop
  15. staff — employees
  16. chest — of your body
  17. lean — to rest against
  18. game — a kind of play
  19. hand — help
  20. fall — the season
  21. game — wild animals
  22. chest — of your body
  23. tear — from crying
  24. fall — to drop

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