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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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  14. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  20. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  23. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. leaves — lets stay
  2. hand — help
  3. mine — for digging
  4. ball — a dance
  5. chest — a box
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. hand — in cards
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. file — a document
  10. file — a line of people
  11. chest — of your body
  12. file — a tool
  13. ball — a great time
  14. ball — a round shape
  15. drill — the tool
  16. drill — army training
  17. chest — of your body
  18. pitch — completely
  19. leaves — of a tree
  20. pitch — a sales talk
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. mine — belonging to me
  23. drill — a practice
  24. hand — part of the body

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