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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. There's no middle ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. He has no idea where the ________________ is.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. ground — a position
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. safe — out of danger
  5. ground — the earth
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. scale — in music
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. bat — the animal
  10. chest — of your body
  11. scale — size or range
  12. lean — to bend
  13. hand — help
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. lean — thin
  16. safe — out of danger
  17. chest — a box
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. lean — to rest against
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. ground — crushed
  24. safe — a strongbox

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