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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: rest · cold · fall · cell · deal · content · chest · hide

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. fall — the season
  6. cell — in biology
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. content — the amount
  10. fall — to drop
  11. chest — of your body
  12. deal — to handle
  13. rest — a break
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. rest — what's left
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. content — happy
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. chest — a box
  23. cell — a phone
  24. rest — what's left

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