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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  17. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mark — a trace
  3. craft — boats
  4. net — for catching
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. chest — a box
  7. bat — the animal
  8. file — a line of people
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. file — a tool
  11. mark — a grade
  12. game — a match
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. file — a document
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. net — in sport
  17. game — a kind of play
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. net — after costs
  20. craft — a skill
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. game — wild animals
  23. chest — of your body
  24. fork — in a road

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