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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. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. pound — a weight
  4. plane — in geometry
  5. shower — to wash
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bat — the animal
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. chest — of your body
  11. shower — rain
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. can — to be able to
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. shower — a meteor shower
  18. can — a tin
  19. can — a tin
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. chest — a box
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. mouse — for a computer
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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