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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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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 · squash · land · tube · chest · mine · firm · rush

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I'll be taking the ________________.
  3. When are we going to ________________?
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  15. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  16. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  17. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. tube — the underground
  3. land — to come down
  4. chest — a box
  5. file — a line of people
  6. land — ground
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. rush — hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. firm — steady
  11. tube — a container
  12. land — a country
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. tube — in a tire
  15. rush — to hurry
  16. file — a tool
  17. firm — a company
  18. firm — decided
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. squash — the sport
  21. mine — for digging
  22. squash — to crush
  23. chest — of your body
  24. file — a document

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