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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. chest — of your body
  4. land — ground
  5. net — after costs
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. club — a group
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. bore — to drill
  11. chest — of your body
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. land — a country
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. plane — a tool
  16. land — to come down
  17. bat — the animal
  18. rush — hurry
  19. net — in sport
  20. club — for golf
  21. bore — to tire
  22. chest — a box
  23. net — for catching
  24. club — for dancing

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