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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  10. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  11. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. Did you ________________ the meat?
  22. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. row — to paddle
  4. row — a line
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. club — a group
  7. bark — to shout
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bark — of a tree
  10. face — to point toward
  11. face — to confront
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. club — for dancing
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. season — of the year
  16. chest — a box
  17. face — part of the head
  18. season — in sport
  19. mine — for digging
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. season — to add flavour
  22. club — for golf
  23. chest — of your body
  24. bat — the animal

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