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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. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. How do you ________________ your surname?
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. wave — a sudden rise
  3. scale — size or range
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. hand — in cards
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — letters
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. scale — in music
  11. spell — a short time
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. chest — a box
  16. chest — of your body
  17. deal — to handle
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. fork — in a road
  22. wave — of the sea
  23. hand — help
  24. bat — the animal

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