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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  8. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. race — a contest
  3. club — for dancing
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. chest — a box
  6. kick — in football
  7. race — humankind
  8. pass — to succeed
  9. club — for golf
  10. race — the arms race
  11. chip — to eat
  12. clip — for paper
  13. pass — a permit
  14. chip — in a computer
  15. chest — of your body
  16. club — a group
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bat — the animal
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. clip — a video
  21. chip — for betting
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. pass — to spend time

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