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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. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  21. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. drill — the tool
  4. swing — to play on
  5. can — a tin
  6. chest — of your body
  7. drill — a practice
  8. cell — in biology
  9. can — a tin
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. can — to be able to
  12. chest — a box
  13. drill — army training
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. scale — in music
  17. pitch — completely
  18. swing — music
  19. scale — size or range
  20. swing — in golf
  21. hand — part of the body
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. chest — of your body
  24. scale — for weighing

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