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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. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  5. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  6. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  19. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  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. chest — of your body
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. bat — the animal
  4. race — humankind
  5. kick — a thrill
  6. object — to protest
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. race — the arms race
  9. race — a contest
  10. chest — a box
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. object — an aim
  16. bulb — for light
  17. bulb — for light
  18. object — a thing
  19. straw — to clutch at straws
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. kick — in football
  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