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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chest — a box
  3. mark — a grade
  4. mark — to pay attention
  5. present — a gift
  6. chest — of your body
  7. cold — not warm
  8. present — there
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. firm — steady
  11. pitch — completely
  12. firm — decided
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mark — a trace
  17. present — the time now
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. chest — of your body
  20. firm — a company
  21. cold — an illness
  22. band — a music group
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. band — a ring

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