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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  10. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  11. We're almost out of ________________.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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. shower — a meteor shower
  4. shower — rain
  5. pop — to visit
  6. shower — to wash
  7. root — of a plant
  8. mine — for digging
  9. mark — to pay attention
  10. tube — a container
  11. pop — soda
  12. chest — of your body
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. mark — a trace
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. root — the cause
  17. root — of a word
  18. mark — a grade
  19. chest — a box
  20. pop — music
  21. bat — the animal
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. tube — the underground

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