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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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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: ground · chest · pitcher · present · wind · fall · track · stick

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. He is an ace ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. chest — of your body
  3. present — there
  4. ground — the earth
  5. pitcher — in baseball
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. present — a gift
  8. chest — of your body
  9. track — to keep track
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. ground — crushed
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. track — a path
  14. wind — moving air
  15. ground — a position
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. wind — moving air
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. present — the time now
  22. stick — to attach or keep to
  23. chest — a box
  24. track — a song

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