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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. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The ball is in your ________________.
  19. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mouse — the animal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. chest — of your body
  6. rash — a series
  7. bat — the animal
  8. chest — of your body
  9. land — to come down
  10. chest — a box
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. snap — to click
  16. land — a country
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. court — for sport
  19. court — of a king
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. rash — hasty
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. court — of law
  24. land — ground

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