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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: chest · drill · bat · snap · lean · racket · jam · wax

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  17. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bat — the animal
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. lean — thin
  5. wax — to grow
  6. drill — army training
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. chest — of your body
  9. lean — to bend
  10. drill — a practice
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. wax — in the ear
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. jam — to spread on bread
  17. wax — for sculpting
  18. chest — a box
  19. chest — of your body
  20. drill — the tool
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. 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