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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 hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  24. The ball is in your ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bat — the animal
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chest — of your body
  5. court — of a king
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. chest — of your body
  8. degree — temperature
  9. hand — help
  10. face — part of the head
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. court — of law
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. chest — a box
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. face — to point toward
  17. degree — an amount
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. degree — from a university
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a line
  23. face — to confront
  24. court — for sport

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