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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  11. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  18. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bat — the animal
  7. stock — shares
  8. pit — in a race
  9. chest — a box
  10. pit — a hole
  11. stock — goods
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. chest — of your body
  14. hand — help
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. hand — in cards
  17. pit — a fruit stone
  18. bore — to drill

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