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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 120 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. game — wild animals
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. face — to confront
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. chest — of your body
  11. face — part of the head
  12. wake — before a funeral
  13. snap — to click
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. face — to point toward
  17. game — a match
  18. chest — a box
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. wake — a trail
  24. bat — the animal

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