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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. There's no middle ________________.
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. tear — to rip
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. ground — a position
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. chest — of your body
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. court — for sport
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. sharp — clever
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. tear — from crying
  19. court — of law
  20. tear — from crying
  21. ground — crushed
  22. court — of a king
  23. ground — the earth
  24. sharp — with an edge

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