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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. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  12. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. rock — a stone
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. mug — a face
  5. chest — of your body
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. chest — of your body
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. land — ground
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. straw — a straw man
  12. straw — dry grass
  13. chest — a box
  14. mug — to rob
  15. mug — a cup
  16. land — a country
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. mine — for digging
  19. land — to come down
  20. rock — music
  21. bat — the animal
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. sharp — clever
  24. mine — belonging to me

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