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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  14. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  17. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  18. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  19. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. foot — the bottom
  3. branch — a division
  4. chest — of your body
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. cue — a hint
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. foot — a measure
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. chest — a box
  11. land — ground
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. branch — of a tree
  14. branch — of a bank
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cue — a signal
  17. foot — part of the body
  18. sharp — with an edge
  19. cue — for pool
  20. land — a country
  21. land — to come down
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. sharp — clever
  24. calf — a young 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