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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. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. track — to keep track
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — tied together
  5. chest — of your body
  6. cap — a hat
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. pit — a hole
  10. pit — in a race
  11. hand — help
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. bat — the animal
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. hand — in cards
  17. chest — a box
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. track — a path
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cap — of ice
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. track — a song
  24. bound — obliged

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