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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. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. Have you met the new head ________________?
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  15. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  22. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. rock — music
  3. hand — help
  4. coach — a trainer
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. safe — out of danger
  7. bat — the animal
  8. tube — a container
  9. safe — out of danger
  10. chest — a box
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. safe — a strongbox
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. hand — in cards
  17. fork — in a road
  18. chest — of your body
  19. rock — a stone
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. rock — to move gently
  22. coach — pulled by horses
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. tube — the underground

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