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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  10. Did you ________________ the meat?
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  14. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. We're on a ________________ here.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  24. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. chest — of your body
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. racket — for tennis
  5. mug — to rob
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. mug — a cup
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. straw — dry grass
  10. season — to add flavour
  11. season — in sport
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. racket — a loud noise
  14. straw — to clutch at straws
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. mug — a face
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. bat — the animal
  20. roll — on a roll
  21. season — of the year
  22. chest — a box
  23. roll — a list
  24. chest — of your body

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