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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  8. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. chest — of your body
  3. rush — hurry
  4. ball — a dance
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. file — a line of people
  7. rush — to hurry
  8. trunk — of a car
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. field — a subject
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. trunk — of a tree
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. file — a document
  15. field — farmland
  16. ball — a great time
  17. bat — the animal
  18. chest — of your body
  19. chest — a box
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. file — a tool
  22. snap — to click
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. bat — in an idiom

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