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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  14. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  15. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. chest — a box
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bark — to shout
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. chest — of your body
  9. drill — a practice
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. rush — hurry
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. drill — army training
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. key — for a lock
  16. drill — the tool
  17. chest — of your body
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. bat — the animal
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. rush — a thrill

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