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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  16. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rule — a law
  3. bat — the animal
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. field — farmland
  6. bore — gave birth
  7. chest — a box
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. track — to keep track
  10. bore — to tire
  11. rule — government
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. dip — a sauce
  14. dip — to sink
  15. bore — to drill
  16. track — a song
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. board — to get on
  19. chest — of your body
  20. field — a subject
  21. board — a committee
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. track — a path
  24. field — for sport

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