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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. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  3. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  17. When was this ________________ built?
  18. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pit — in a race
  3. pit — a fruit stone
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bat — the animal
  6. last — to go on
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. present — the time now
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. pit — a hole
  12. bear — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. present — a gift
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. bear — to put up with
  19. present — there
  20. last — final
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. last — finally
  24. chest — a box

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