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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. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  5. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. The ________________ went through the wall.
  21. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. ________________ games are popular in Germany.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. pound — a weight
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. foot — the bottom
  5. nail — on a finger
  6. rash — a series
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. chest — of your body
  10. bat — the animal
  11. press — to push
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. rash — hasty
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. foot — a measure
  16. chest — a box
  17. press — newspapers
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. press — a publisher
  20. nail — for a hammer
  21. board — to get on
  22. board — a committee
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. board — a flat piece

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