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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.

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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: net · firm · chest · trunk · cold · spell · present · rule

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  6. How do you ________________ your surname?
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  24. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cold — not warm
  3. present — there
  4. chest — of your body
  5. rule — government
  6. spell — letters
  7. firm — decided
  8. spell — a short time
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. spell — magic
  12. net — after costs
  13. rule — a law
  14. cold — an illness
  15. firm — a company
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. chest — a box
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. net — for catching
  21. present — the time now
  22. net — in sport
  23. present — a gift
  24. firm — steady

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