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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  6. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. Have you settled on a ________________?
  20. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. vault — a safe
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cue — a signal
  6. face — part of the head
  7. date — the fruit
  8. wound — an injury
  9. pitch — a sports field
  10. cue — for pool
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. cue — a hint
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. pitch — completely
  18. chest — a box
  19. date — on the calendar
  20. face — to point toward
  21. bat — the animal
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. face — to confront

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