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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He works in a ________________ mill.
  3. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. She's very handy with a ________________.
  9. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. saw — the tool
  3. craft — a handicraft
  4. chest — a box
  5. face — to point toward
  6. saw — past of 'see'
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. saw — the tool
  9. craft — a skill
  10. tear — from crying
  11. craft — boats
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. face — part of the head
  14. tear — from crying
  15. face — to confront
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. field — farmland
  19. field — a subject
  20. racket — a loud noise
  21. field — for sport
  22. tear — to rip
  23. bat — the animal
  24. chest — of your body

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