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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. My mare is ________________ in color.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. He was locked up in a ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. kick — in football
  3. bay — a horse colour
  4. chest — a box
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. stock — goods
  7. chest — of your body
  8. cell — in a prison
  9. swing — in golf
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. stock — shares
  12. bay — to keep at bay
  13. swing — to play on
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. cell — a phone
  17. game — a match
  18. game — wild animals
  19. swing — music
  20. bay — a part of the sea
  21. bat — the animal
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. cell — in biology

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