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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: cabinet · march · chest · season · lash · bat · kick · mine

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Did you ________________ the meat?
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. march — the month
  5. season — of the year
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. season — in sport
  8. mine — for digging
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. chest — of your body
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. season — to add flavour
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. chest — a box
  17. kick — in football
  18. march — the month
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. march — music
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. bat — the animal

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