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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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468
Word bank
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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 people resisted their cruel ________________.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. ruler — a monarch
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. perch — the fish
  4. game — wild animals
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. bear — the animal
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. cell — in biology
  13. cell — a phone
  14. chest — a box
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. chest — of your body
  17. bear — the animal
  18. drill — army training
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. drill — the tool
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. bat — the animal
  23. game — a match
  24. drill — a practice

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