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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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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: arm · tear · wake · pound · stock · chest · field · rule

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. My father caught me by the ________________.
  3. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  7. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  8. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  15. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  16. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. The ________________ market has crashed.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. wake — before a funeral
  4. field — for sport
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. rule — government
  7. rule — to rule out
  8. wake — a trail
  9. field — a subject
  10. pound — a weight
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stock — goods
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. rule — a law
  16. tear — to rip
  17. chest — a box
  18. tear — from crying
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. tear — from crying
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. field — farmland
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. stock — shares

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