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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  4. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  5. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. shower — rain
  4. pit — a hole
  5. shower — a meteor shower
  6. degree — from a university
  7. pit — in a race
  8. shower — to wash
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. degree — an amount
  12. bat — the animal
  13. board — a committee
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. board — to get on
  18. chest — a box
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. stick — a piece of wood
  21. plane — a tool
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. degree — temperature
  24. chest — of your body

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