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

Word bank: chest · bowl · hide · pound · bat · racket

  1. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a football final
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. pound — a weight
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bowl — to roll
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. pound — to hit hard
  12. chest — of your body
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. bat — the animal
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. racket — for tennis

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