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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 felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cell — in biology
  3. track — a path
  4. present — there
  5. present — a gift
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cue — a hint
  8. present — the time now
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. chest — a box
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a song
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. cue — for pool
  17. bat — the animal
  18. root — of a plant
  19. chest — of your body
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. perch — the fish
  23. root — of a word
  24. root — the cause

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