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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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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: last · board · snap · racket · chest · field · bat · lean

  1. False peace will not ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  15. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. last — to go on
  2. bat — the animal
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. last — finally
  6. chest — of your body
  7. field — for sport
  8. racket — for tennis
  9. field — a subject
  10. snap — to click
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. board — to get on
  13. chest — a box
  14. lean — to rest against
  15. board — a committee
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. field — farmland
  18. lean — to bend
  19. chest — of your body
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. lean — thin
  22. last — final
  23. board — a flat piece
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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