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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. This piece is in a major ________________.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bat — the animal
  3. chest — a box
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. key — the most important part
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. content — happy
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bark — a dog's sound
  14. chest — of your body
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. key — in music
  18. kick — in football
  19. bark — to shout
  20. content — the amount
  21. rule — a law
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. rule — government
  24. key — for a lock

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