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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: chest · mate · field · staff · hand · tube · straw · cell

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  11. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. field — for sport
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. mate — a friend
  7. tube — in a tire
  8. hand — in cards
  9. mate — a partner
  10. mate — to breed
  11. tube — a container
  12. cell — in biology
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. staff — a stick
  15. staff — employees
  16. field — farmland
  17. tube — the underground
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. cell — a phone
  20. field — a subject
  21. hand — help
  22. chest — a box
  23. staff — employees
  24. straw — to clutch at straws

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