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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. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  23. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  24. We took cover from the thunder ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — a box
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. chest — of your body
  6. hand — help
  7. bowl — to roll
  8. kick — in football
  9. clip — for paper
  10. hand — in cards
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. clip — a video
  14. shower — to wash
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. jam — a tight spot
  18. bat — the animal
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. clip — to cut
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. bowl — a football final
  23. kick — a thrill
  24. shower — rain

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