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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. last — finally
  3. chest — of your body
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. craft — boats
  6. last — to go on
  7. stock — a soup base
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. stock — shares
  10. last — final
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. craft — a skill
  14. bat — the animal
  15. fork — in a road
  16. chest — a box
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. stock — goods

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