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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 120 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  21. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  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. bat — in an idiom
  2. cue — for pool
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. cue — a signal
  5. hand — help
  6. track — a path
  7. prune — to trim
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. fall — the season
  11. kid — child
  12. track — to keep track
  13. fall — to drop
  14. chest — a box
  15. bat — the animal
  16. hand — in cards
  17. cue — a hint
  18. prune — to trim
  19. fall — to drop
  20. prune — the fruit
  21. track — a song
  22. kid — to tease
  23. chest — of your body
  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