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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: bat · hand · last · nail · arm · bark · chest · content

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. hand — in cards
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. bat — in an idiom
  7. hand — help
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. last — finally
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. content — happy
  12. bark — to shout
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. chest — of your body
  15. arm — a part of something
  16. chest — a box
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. last — final
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. content — the amount
  21. last — to go on
  22. nail — for a hammer
  23. bat — the animal
  24. bark — of a tree

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