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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. That was ________________ to happen.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bound — certain
  3. chest — of your body
  4. chest — of your body
  5. kid — child
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. swing — music
  8. pass — a permit
  9. bat — the animal
  10. degree — temperature
  11. bound — obliged
  12. swing — in golf
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. degree — from a university
  17. chest — a box
  18. pass — to spend time
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bound — tied together
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. swing — to play on
  23. stem — to come from
  24. degree — an amount

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