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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 ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  22. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. Should I buy a wireless ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — the animal
  3. last — to go on
  4. mouse — the animal
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. last — final
  10. chest — of your body
  11. chest — of your body
  12. capital — a city
  13. chest — a box
  14. drill — the tool
  15. wound — an injury
  16. squash — the sport
  17. last — finally
  18. drill — army training
  19. squash — to crush
  20. capital — money
  21. squash — the vegetable
  22. drill — a practice
  23. wound — an injury
  24. mouse — for a computer

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