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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. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. fall — to drop
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. kick — in football
  7. fall — to drop
  8. foot — part of the body
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. file — a line of people
  12. fall — the season
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. bat — the animal
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. file — a document
  18. chest — of your body
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. file — a tool
  22. foot — the bottom
  23. chest — a box
  24. chest — of your body

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