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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. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. bat — the animal
  4. chest — a box
  5. perch — the fish
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. cap — a lid
  8. perch — for a bird
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. net — in sport
  11. cap — of ice
  12. net — after costs
  13. chest — of your body
  14. cap — a hat
  15. rash — a series
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. net — for catching
  18. roll — a list
  19. roll — a cake
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. rash — hasty
  22. mouse — for a computer
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. perch — for a bird

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