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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 120 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. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. leaves — lets stay
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. drill — a practice
  5. chest — of your body
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. cell — a phone
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. drill — the tool
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. drill — army training
  13. leaves — of a tree
  14. kick — in football
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. chest — a box
  19. cell — in biology
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. wound — an injury
  23. bat — the animal
  24. fan — a supporter

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