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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: chip · leaves · bat · mine · chest · staff

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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. chip — in a computer
  4. chest — of your body
  5. mine — for digging
  6. leaves — of a tree
  7. staff — a stick
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. leaves — lets stay
  10. chest — a box
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. bat — the animal
  14. staff — employees
  15. chip — to eat
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. staff — employees
  18. chip — for betting

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