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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. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  7. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  18. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. My father caught me by the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  24. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. bat — the animal
  4. fan — to cool the air
  5. chest — of your body
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bore — gave birth
  8. foot — a measure
  9. mine — for digging
  10. chest — a box
  11. bore — to drill
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. bore — to tire
  14. root — of a word
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. foot — part of the body
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. arm — part of the body
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. root — the cause
  24. root — of a plant

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