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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. face — to confront
  3. chest — of your body
  4. wax — for sculpting
  5. face — part of the head
  6. stem — to come from
  7. drill — the tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. bat — the animal
  11. chest — a box
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. last — finally
  14. last — final
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. last — to go on
  17. wax — to grow
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. face — to point toward
  20. drill — army training
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. chest — of your body
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. bat — in an idiom

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