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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. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  2. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. My father caught me by the ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  21. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. lean — thin
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. chest — of your body
  5. content — happy
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. race — a contest
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chest — a box
  12. leaves — to go away
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. leaves — of a tree
  16. race — the arms race
  17. content — the amount
  18. lean — to bend
  19. race — humankind
  20. lean — to rest against
  21. leaves — lets stay
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — in an idiom

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