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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. My father caught me by the ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. pitch — completely
  3. branch — of a tree
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. chest — of your body
  8. branch — of a bank
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. arm — a part of something
  12. branch — a division
  13. cold — not warm
  14. pit — in a race
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bass — the fish
  18. pit — a hole
  19. chest — a box
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bass — low music
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. pitch — a sports field

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