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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. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. My father caught me by the ________________.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  16. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  17. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. vault — a safe
  3. chest — of your body
  4. arm — part of the body
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. arm — a part of something
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. vault — an arched ceiling
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. stick — to attach or keep to
  12. bat — the animal
  13. chest — of your body
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wax — for sculpting
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. vault — in gymnastics
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. wax — to grow
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. chest — a box
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. content — the amount
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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