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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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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: mouse · bear · rash · club · chest · hand · bat · stem

  1. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  11. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  19. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  24. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. hand — in cards
  4. chest — of your body
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bear — the animal
  7. rash — hasty
  8. club — a group
  9. bear — the animal
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. chest — of your body
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. stem — to come from
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. hand — help
  18. rash — a series
  19. mouse — for a computer
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. bat — the animal
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. club — for golf
  24. chest — a box

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