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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 120 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: field · spring · chest · tube · game · ruler · ground · rest

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  8. I'll be taking the ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  12. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  13. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  17. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. chest — of your body
  4. rest — a break
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. spring — of water
  7. rest — what's left
  8. tube — the underground
  9. spring — a coil
  10. game — wild animals
  11. tube — in a tire
  12. ground — the earth
  13. ruler — for measuring
  14. field — farmland
  15. spring — the season
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. tube — a container
  18. chest — a box
  19. field — for sport
  20. ground — crushed
  21. field — a subject
  22. ground — a position
  23. game — a match
  24. rest — what's left

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