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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  9. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. chest — of your body
  3. last — to go on
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. rush — to hurry
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. temple — side of the head
  9. deal — a big deal
  10. content — happy
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. last — finally
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. content — the amount
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. last — final
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bat — the animal
  24. deal — to handle

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