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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  9. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. A black ________________ roamed the forest.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bat — the animal
  4. file — a tool
  5. bank — for money
  6. pop — music
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. bear — the animal
  9. bank — of a river
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pop — to visit
  14. root — of a word
  15. hand — help
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. pop — soda
  18. bank — for money
  19. chest — a box
  20. root — of a plant
  21. chest — of your body
  22. file — a document
  23. root — the cause
  24. bear — 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