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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. chest — of your body
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. rash — a series
  6. rash — hasty
  7. field — a subject
  8. board — a committee
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. chest — a box
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. chest — of your body
  13. board — to get on
  14. spell — letters
  15. field — farmland
  16. prune — the fruit
  17. field — for sport
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bat — the animal
  21. racket — a loud noise
  22. spell — a short time
  23. spell — magic
  24. prune — to trim

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