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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  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. bat — the animal
  2. drill — a practice
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rock — music
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. drill — the tool
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cold — an illness
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. pop — to visit
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chest — a box
  15. drill — army training
  16. cell — in biology
  17. pop — soda
  18. pop — music
  19. chest — of your body
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. cold — not warm
  23. arm — part of the body
  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