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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  4. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. chest — of your body
  3. bat — for baseball
  4. chest — a box
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. bat — the animal
  8. stand — for spectators
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. bound — certain
  11. kid — child
  12. bound — tied together
  13. pit — in a race
  14. bound — obliged
  15. last — to go on
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. stand — on your feet
  18. last — finally
  19. pit — a hole
  20. last — final
  21. lean — thin
  22. kid — to tease
  23. stand — to bear
  24. lean — to bend

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