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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. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  14. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  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. calf — of the leg
  2. ball — a great time
  3. pit — a hole
  4. chest — of your body
  5. pit — a fruit stone
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. pit — in a race
  8. trunk — of an elephant
  9. shower — to wash
  10. hand — help
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. shower — a meteor shower
  14. hand — part of the body
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. pitch — completely
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. ball — a dance
  21. hand — in cards
  22. shower — rain
  23. chest — a box
  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