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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  9. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  10. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  18. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  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. hand — part of the body
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. spring — the season
  4. bass — low music
  5. chest — of your body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. board — a flat piece
  9. spring — of water
  10. leaves — lets stay
  11. bat — the animal
  12. chest — a box
  13. board — to get on
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. root — of a plant
  17. leaves — to go away
  18. bass — the instrument
  19. board — a committee
  20. root — the cause
  21. root — of a word
  22. hand — help
  23. spring — a coil
  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