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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 muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  11. Where did you ________________ them?
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. track — a path
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. chest — a box
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. shower — to wash
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. fan — a supporter
  11. mug — to rob
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bat — the animal
  14. mug — a face
  15. mug — a cup
  16. track — to keep track
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. band — a music group
  19. shower — rain
  20. band — a ring
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. chest — of your body
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. track — a song

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