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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  7. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  8. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. ground — a position
  4. hand — in cards
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. race — humankind
  7. current — of water
  8. row — a line
  9. race — the arms race
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. ground — crushed
  13. chest — of your body
  14. fall — to drop
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. current — happening now
  17. bat — the animal
  18. row — to paddle
  19. chest — a box
  20. race — a contest
  21. current — electric
  22. hand — help
  23. fall — the season
  24. fall — to drop

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