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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. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  20. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  21. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. cue — a hint
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. cue — for pool
  9. mark — a grade
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. trunk — of a tree
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. trunk — of an elephant
  17. bat — the animal
  18. branch — a division
  19. cue — a signal
  20. mark — a trace
  21. trunk — of a car
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. chest — a box

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