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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: swing · game · bat · foot · cap · net · racket · chest

  1. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — a measure
  2. net — in sport
  3. swing — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. net — for catching
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. chest — a box
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. game — wild animals
  10. bat — the animal
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. chest — of your body
  13. swing — in golf
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. swing — to play on
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. cap — of ice
  19. cap — a lid
  20. net — after costs
  21. cap — a hat
  22. game — a match
  23. foot — part of the body
  24. game — a kind of play

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