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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 lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  16. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. bat — the animal
  3. hand — in cards
  4. vault — a safe
  5. club — for golf
  6. ball — a dance
  7. wind — moving air
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. vault — in gymnastics
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. ball — a great time
  12. chest — of your body
  13. vault — an arched ceiling
  14. chest — of your body
  15. wind — moving air
  16. club — for dancing
  17. root — of a word
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. root — of a plant
  20. hand — help
  21. root — the cause
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. club — a group

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