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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  22. There's no middle ________________.
  23. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. ground — the earth
  3. ground — crushed
  4. ball — a great time
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. root — of a plant
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. squash — the sport
  10. row — a line
  11. root — the cause
  12. row — to paddle
  13. squash — to crush
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. ball — a dance
  16. face — part of the head
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. bat — the animal
  20. face — to confront
  21. face — to point toward
  22. ground — a position
  23. root — of a word
  24. chest — a box

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