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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The ________________ market has crashed.
  21. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  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. racket — for tennis
  2. tube — a container
  3. lean — to bend
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. lean — thin
  7. chest — a box
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. tube — the underground
  10. race — the arms race
  11. kick — in football
  12. chest — of your body
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. stock — a soup base
  16. bat — the animal
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. racket — a loud noise
  19. race — a contest
  20. stock — shares
  21. race — humankind
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. stock — goods
  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