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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  3. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  8. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  9. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  10. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  20. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. fan — a supporter
  3. tear — to rip
  4. chest — of your body
  5. court — for sport
  6. bass — the fish
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. tear — from crying
  9. tear — from crying
  10. present — there
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. court — of a king
  14. present — a gift
  15. straw — a straw man
  16. bass — low music
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. present — the time now
  20. court — of law
  21. chest — a box
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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