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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. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — a sports field
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. pitch — a sales talk
  5. kid — child
  6. stem — of a plant
  7. bat — the animal
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. lie — to recline
  11. hand — help
  12. stem — to come from
  13. lie — an untruth
  14. kid — to tease
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. hand — in cards
  18. chest — a box
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. pitch — completely
  23. chest — of your body
  24. lie — an untruth

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