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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  4. He is an ace ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. chest — of your body
  3. perch — for a bird
  4. pitcher — in baseball
  5. net — after costs
  6. perch — for a bird
  7. wax — to grow
  8. perch — the fish
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. net — for catching
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. chest — of your body
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. wax — for sculpting
  19. net — in sport
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. chest — a box
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. bat — the animal

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