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

Word bank: bat · nail · chest · rock · arm · cell · court · rest

  1. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The ball is in your ________________.
  4. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ went through the wall.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. My father caught me by the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. rest — a break
  3. court — for sport
  4. rock — music
  5. rest — what's left
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. rock — a stone
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. cell — in biology
  10. chest — a box
  11. chest — of your body
  12. court — of law
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. rest — what's left
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. arm — a part of something
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cell — a phone
  19. chest — of your body
  20. court — of a king
  21. nail — for a hammer
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. arm — part of the body

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