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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. net — after costs
  4. safe — a strongbox
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. chest — a box
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. chest — of your body
  13. net — in sport
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. net — for catching
  17. mine — for digging
  18. lie — to recline
  19. staff — employees
  20. chest — of your body
  21. scale — in music
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. scale — size or range

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