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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. My father caught me by the ________________.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. chest — a box
  7. ground — a position
  8. ground — the earth
  9. degree — an amount
  10. race — a contest
  11. chest — of your body
  12. chest — of your body
  13. race — humankind
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bat — the animal
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. degree — from a university
  18. ground — crushed
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. race — the arms race
  23. arm — a part of something
  24. cabinet — ministers

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