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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. track — a song
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. land — a country
  7. object — to protest
  8. object — a thing
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. land — to come down
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. track — to keep track
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. track — a path
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. chest — a box
  18. object — an aim
  19. chest — of your body
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. land — ground
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hide — to keep secret

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