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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. What do you think of the new ________________?
  22. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. chest — a box
  5. hand — in cards
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fork — in a road
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. rest — a break
  12. hand — help
  13. rest — what's left
  14. rest — what's left
  15. branch — of a tree
  16. chest — of your body
  17. branch — a division
  18. bat — the animal
  19. cabinet — a cupboard
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. branch — of a bank
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. fork — to eat with

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